LAHORE: The Lahore High Court chief justice on Friday sought arguments on a petition seeking removal of a judge named in the Panama Papers for establishing an offshore company.

A citizen, Sajan Gulzar, filed the petition pleading that name of Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan of the LHC was shown as resident of Sharjah, UAE, in the documents released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), commonly known as Panama leaks.

The petitioner’s counsel stated that the judge was also shown as shareholder of an offshore company registered in Bahamas from Feb 25, 2002 to Oct 11, 2011.

He pointed out that Justice Khan had taken oath of his office on Feb 20, 2010 and thus could not enter into any business transaction or be part of any company or business entity after taking oath as judge.

The counsel said the judge was bound to disclose existence of his shareholding in the offshore company. However, he failed to fulfill his legal, moral and ethical obligations, he added.

The lawyer argued that the judge had been found guilty of gross misconduct in terms of Article 209 of the Constitution.

He further argued that the continuous presence of the judge in the high court was detrimental to the institution of judiciary and its prestige. He asked the court to order the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to remove Justice Khan from the office for violating code of conduct for judges of superior courts.

As an immediate relief, the lawyer urged the court to stop the judge from working till disposal of the petition.

Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah observed that the matter of Justice Khan was pending before the SJC. The chief justice adjourned hearing till May 29 and asked the petitioner’s counsel to come up with arguments as to how the high court could stop its judge from working.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2017