ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday wrapped up petitions on a video leak controversy, involving former accountability judge Arshad Malik, saying that a detailed verdict would be issued shortly to elaborate the top court’s stance on the matter which rocked the domestic political landscape.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, heard the case. Chief Justice Khosa, who announced the verdict, said that five main issues were discussed during the proceedings;
- Is the video authentic?
- If it is authentic, how and on what forum can it be proved?
- What possible impact will the video have on the Al-Azizia case?
- What will be the impact of the video on Judge Malik’s future?
- Which forum will view the conduct of the judge?
In an explosive presser on July 7, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, claimed the accountability judge, Arshad Malik, hearing her father Nawaz Sharif’s trial was coerced to give judgement against the former prime minister while presenting an alleged video of the judge as evidence.
However, Judge Malik denied the allegations and submitted a shocking affidavit claiming that the PML-N representatives had offered him hefty bribes in exchange for a favorable verdict in the corruption references.
He wrote in the affidavit that while he was in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah with his family, he was approached by Hussain Nawaz, the son of the former premier, through Nasir Butt. Upon meeting Malik, Hussain told him that he would be given “Rs500 million and would be relocated in UK, Canada or any other country with jobs for my children and profitable business” if he resigned and admitted to “guilt of convicting Nawaz under pressure”.
The petitions — filed by Ishtiaq Ahmed Mirza, Sohail Akhtar and Tariq Asad — sought directives from the apex court for the constitution of a probe committee or a judicial commission to look into the matter.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday repatriated the former accountability court judge to the Lahore High Court (LHC) to face disciplinary proceedings over his confessions which it said amounted to ‘misconduct’.
In a notification, the court said that the judge’s confessions in his press statement and affidavit on July 7 and July 11 respectively amount to “misconduct and violation of the code of conduct, which warrant imitation of disciplinary proceedings against him”. For this reason, the chief justice of IHC, suspended and repatriated the former accountability court judge with immediate effect so that he can face disciplinary proceedings.
Two days earlier, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa had asked why the federal government had not repatriated him to face disciplinary proceedings. He said that the judge’s conduct had caused all honest, hard-working and dedicated judges to bow their heads in shame.
He further asked if the government was protecting the judge by keeping his services with them, adding that the whole situation was dangerous as a judge was vulnerable to exploitation by a third party because of secrets he was guarding. Over this, Attorney General Anwar Mansoor had told the chief justice that Judge Malik would be repatriated.
Last month, the apex court took up the case on a petition submitted by a citizen named Ishtiaq Ahmed, who appealed the court for an independent judicial inquiry of the video scandal.
On July 12, judge Arshad Malik was relieved from his duties by the federal government for his alleged involvement in the controversial video scandal.
During the last proceedings, Chief Justice Khosa remarked that three weeks were given to complete the investigation and the report was regarding two videos – one which was used to blackmail the judge and the other which was shown in the press conference.
The chief justice inquired whether a petition had been filed in court to obtain any legal benefit, to which the attorney general said no petition had been filed.
The top judge remarked that the video would be of use for the release of incarcerated former premier Nawaz Sharif when a petition is filed. He added that it remained to be seen if a forensic audit could be carried out on a copy of the video and if this was possible for a YouTube video.
