SC judgment in video scandal

ISLAMABAD: In its judgement on the video scandal, the Supreme Court held that the admitted conduct of accountability court judge Arshad Malik (now suspended, facing disciplinary proceedings) was shocking, abhorrent and offensive to the image of a judge in the society.

The three-member bench’s judgement written by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said that the press release issued by Arshad Malik on July 7, and the affidavit sworn by him on July 11, are themselves damning indictments against him. “His admitted conduct emerging from that press release and the affidavit stinks and the stench of such stinking conduct has the tendency to bring bad name to the entire judiciary as an institution.

He had unabashedly admitted in the press release and the affidavit that he had a shady past and had skeletons in his cupboard for which he was vulnerable to blackmail, during the trial being conducted by him he had been holding private meetings with sympathisers of the accused person being tried by him, he was threatened and inducements were offered to him during the trial but he had not reported the same to any superior authority and had never considered recusing from the trial, after convicting the accused person in the trial he had met the convict at his residence in a different city, he had even met a son of the convict in a different country, and finally, he had tried to help the convict in his appeal filed against his own judgement by dictating some grounds of appeal and pointing out some stated weaknesses in the case against the convict convicted by him,” the judgement read.

It said that the judge’s sordid and disgusting conduct has made the thousands of honest, upright, fair and proper judges in the country hang their heads in shame. It added that the attorney general assured the bench that Arshad Malik will be repatriated to the Lahore High Court (LHC) immediately. The bench expected that after his repatriation appropriate departmental disciplinary proceedings will be initiated against him by the LHC forthwith. The process has already been started at the LHC.

The judgement listed five issues that it attended to. One of them was Arshad Malik’s conduct in the episode. It said that the pivot of the matter is the judge who had tried and decided the references filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) against former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. It noted that Arshad Malik works under the LHC and was on deputation serving as a judge, accountability court-II, Islamabad. The bench was informed that he has already been relieved of that position and has been made an officer on special duty (OSD).

The verdict further noted that after the media briefing by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz on July 6, there was an uproar in the country and different sections of the society started demanding immediate probe into the allegations thus leveled. It said the judge’s press release and affidavit compounded the controversy and deepened the anxiety felt by people belonging to all walks of life, including politicians and the legal fraternity.