The Supreme Court (SC) has told Hamid Khan, the counsel for former Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, that the onus to prove that his client’s speech before the Rawalpindi Bar in 2018 did not amount to ‘misconduct’ rests on him.
The appeal by Justice Siddiqui against the verdict of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), which had removed him as a judge of the superior court, is being heard by a five-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial.
During the hearing, Justice Bandial asked Hamid Khan to argue based on facts and stop levelling accusations. The judge remarked that Justice Siddique was provided two chances by the SJC to prove his point, and later he was given another opportunity by the top court.
“You must prove that what Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui said in his speech was not misconduct, then [your argument will have weight],” Justice Bandial said. He further asked Khan to help the court in ascertaining the scope of what constituted as misconduct.
Justice Siddique had been removed from his position as an Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) after he delivered a speech in which he accused officers of intelligence agencies of interfering in the judicial process.
