Supreme Judicial Council on Monday took up the reference filed against a sitting judge of Lahore High Court, Justice Muhammad Farrukh Irfan Khan, on Monday. Sources revealed that during the proceedings of the Supreme Judicial Council led by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, counsel for the LHC judge argued before the Council members that one charge against his client in the reference is not mentioned in the show cause notice.
Justice Muhammad Farrukh Irfan Khan is one of the persons whose names appeared in the Panama Papers. According to Article 209 of the Constitution, the Council comprises the Chief Justice of Pakistan, the next two senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, and the two senior-most chief justices of provincial high courts. It is empowered to hear complaints against top government functionaries such as chairman National Accountability Bureau, members Election Commission of Pakistan, auditor general of Pakistan, and members of the judiciary.
During the proceedings, Attorney General for Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf apprised the Council that a charge-sheet against Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan is almost complete. However, the Council after hearing the arguments adjourned the case for an indefinite period. The counsel for Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan said that his client was issued a show-cause notice for not declaring offshore company at the time of assuming the charge as judge of the high court, adding that there is no allegation in the notice regarding misuse of judicial functions.
The allegation against the LHC judge is that his name was shown as resident of Sharjah, the UAE, in the documents, commonly known as Panama Papers revealed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The judge is also said to be a shareholder of an offshore company registered in the Bahamas from February 25, 2002 to October 11, 2011. After July 28 verdict in Panama Papers case that disqualified Nawaz Sharif from holding public office, bar councils of the superior judiciary had urged the Council to speed up process of the accountability.
It is an admitted fact that no judge has been ousted by the Supreme Judicial Council since the 1970. It is pertinent to mention that the Council is already adjudicating cases of misconduct against four high court judges including two each from Islamabad High Court and Lahore High Court. Sources said that an objection was raised against the attendance of Chief Justice Islamabad High Court Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi in the Council meeting on grounds how he can hear a reference against a judge of the high court when a reference had been filed against him before the same forum.