2 ex-CJs wanted to remove me, sacked IHC judge tells SC

ISLAMABAD: Sacked judge of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that he delivered a speech in 2018 at the District Bar Association Rawalpindi as he was under pressure as former chief justices of the apex court were bent upon removing him from his seat.

The once outspoken judge was removed from the high judicial office on the recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) under Article 209 of the Constitution for delivering a controversial speech on July 21, 2018, thus being guilty of misconduct. Continuing his arguments, Hamid Khan, the counsel for the sacked judge, submitted that the then chief of an agency visited the house of his client. At which Justice Umer Ata Bandial observed that his client had relations with at person, and that was why he visited him.

“You are an honest person and everyone knows it,” Justice Umer Ata Bandial told the petitioner-judge. Shaukat Siddiqui thanked Justice Bandial and then came to the rostrum and submitted that he was under constant pressure since 2015. “In order to release that pressure, I made a speech at the District Bar Rawalpindi,” Shaukat Siddiqui said. “We don’t want to hear your speech,” Justice Bandial told Siddiqui. The sacked judge requested the court to continue the proceedings, but the court rejected his plea. The counsel submitted that the agency chief asked his client to review one of his verdicts. Justice Bandial, however, expressed astonishment over this and asked the counsel that his client was disturbed due to that visit but he made allegations against the judiciary. The SJC had recommended removal of Justice Shaukat Siddiqui from his office for levelling serious allegations against the state institutions including judiciary in his speech. On Jan 28, 2021, the bench had issued notices to federation and attorney general.