Supreme Judicial Council of Pakistan

The Supreme Judicial Council of Pakistan (Urdu: اعلی عدالتی کونسل پاکستان) is a body of judges empowered under Article 209 of the constitution of Pakistan to hear cases of misconduct against judges.

Constitutional composition

The composition of the Council is set out in the constitution as:

Where the council is investigating a member of the council he is replaced by the next most senior judge.

Current composition

Name Retirement Qualifying citeria Comments
Gulzar Ahmed 1 February 2022 Chief Justice of Pakistan Ahmed will remain head of the council until his retirement unless there is a reference against him
Mushir Alam 18 August 2021 Senior most justice of Supreme Court Alam will remain member of the council until his retirement unless there is a reference against him
Umar Ata Bandial 16 September 2023 Second senior most justice of Supreme Court Bandial will remain member of the council until 1 February 2022, after that he will be the head of the council until his retirement unless there is a reference against him
Ahmed Ali Sheikh 2 October 2023 Senior most chief justice of a provincial high court (Sindh High Court) Sheikh will remain member of the council until his retirement unless he is elevated to Supreme Court or if there is a reference against him
Athar Minallah 12 December 2023 Second senior most chief justice of a high court (Islamabad High Court)[1] Minallah will remain member of the council until his retirement unless he is elevated to Supreme Court or if there is a reference against him

Powers

No judge of any of the five High Courts or of the Supreme Court of Pakistan may be dismissed except by the President on the report of the Supreme Judicial Council. The Council may start proceedings against a judge either by its own initiative or by reference from the President of Pakistan.

If the Council concludes that the judge is guilty of misconduct and should be removed from office they can recommend this to the President.

A judge of a court or tribunal subordinate to a High Court may be dismissed by the High Court concerned.

List of judges referenced to SJC

Name Court Reasons Result
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry Supreme Court of Pakistan Acquitted
Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui Islamabad High Court Speech against military and ISI[2] Removed
Qazi Faez Isa Supreme Court of Pakistan Purchase price of one property not cited [3] Acquitted
Muhammad Farrukh Irfan Khan Lahore High Court Offshore company reported in Panama Papers[4] Resigned
Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi[4] Islamabad High Court Acquitted
Sayyed Muhammad Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi[4] Lahore High Court Acquitted
Mazhar Iqbal Sidhu[4] Lahore High Court Resigned

References

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