ISLAMABAD: A second high court judge facing a reference before the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) approached the Supreme Court on Thursday to demand an open trial.

Earlier, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court had filed in the Supreme Court a similar petition seeking an open trial of his reference on charges of misconduct that is pending before the SJC. The council has already deferred the trial against him in view of the pending petition, and the apex court has appointed two senior lawyers as amici curiae to assist the court in the matter.

Now, Justice Muhammad Farrukh Irfan Khan of the Lahore High Court has petitioned the Supreme Court though his counsel Hamid Khan to declare SJC proceedings, with the participation of the IHC chief justice as a member of the council, a nullity of the law as it was repugnant to Article 209(3) of the Constitution.

The IHC chief justice is facing a reference before the SJC and the constitutional provision seeks to replace a judge with another if the former faces similar allegations before the SJC.

The petitioner judge requested the apex court to suspend the SJC proceedings against him till a decision on his petition. He argued that he had the fundamental right to insist that the inquiry into his conduct be held by a properly and constitutionally constituted council, without a member who was barred from sitting on the council.

Justice Farrukh Khan also asked the Supreme Court to declare all orders passed against him by the ‘‘unconstitutionally-formed council’’ without lawful authority and liable to be quashed. He also raised a challenge to the SJC Procedure of Enquiry 2005 for being unconstitutional and of no legal effect, thereby implying that all orders passed by the council under the procedure were of no legal effect.

He requested the Supreme Court to declare that the SJC did not have the jurisdiction to conduct an inquiry into the conduct of a judge based on his judicial orders, particularly those that had been upheld by the Supreme Court. He also asked the SC to direct the council not to hold an inquiry into complaints filed against the conduct of a judge, which could not be supported by any material, documents or evidence of alleged misconduct.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2017