SBC moves SJC against SC judge

KARACHI: The Sindh Bar Council on Saturday filed a complaint before the Supreme Judicial Council against a judge of the Supreme Court for the alleged violation of the code of conduct.

SBC Vice Chairman Azhar Hussain Abbasi submitted in the complaint that certain audio recordings of the respondent SC judge and certain lawyers and other important political persons, including the former chief minister of Punjab, have been leaked and widely circulated on social media and on mainstream media and reproduced in several newspapers. He said the gist of the conversation was to get the matter fixed before the respondent judge who himself was part of the conversation. He submitted that former Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had admitted the recordings.

He submitted that the audio recording of the respondent judge had neither been officially denied by the judge or the court. He submitted that the respondent judge continued to hear the matter with regard to the transfer of police officer Ghulam Mehmood Dogar despite his name was mentioned in the leaked calls.

The SBC vice chairman submitted that it had been widely disclosed in the media that the respondent judge owned property in Lahore Cantonment and Gulberg, two plots and an apartment in the federal government employees housing foundation, Islamabad, and undeclared property in Gujranwala, which are ostensibly beyond his known source of income and allege that the properties had been undervalued by the respondent in the relevant transfer instrument.

The complainant submitted that the conduct of the judge violated articles II, III and IV of the code of conduct for superior court judges and he had not only injured the dignity of the court but also tarnished its reputation.

The SJC was requested to take up the complaint and inquiry be initiated against the respondent judge and direct the respondent to explain his position and defend himself. He requested that if the Supreme Judicial Council comes to the conclusion of an inquiry and finds the respondent guilty of misconduct, the respondent may be removed from his office.