President seeks to re-appoint ex-Chief Justice Faiz to Supreme Court

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, on Tuesday, announced he was seeking to re-appoint former Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain to the Supreme Court.

“I, today, requested counsel from the Judicial Service Commission regarding appointing Al-Usthaz Ahmed Faiz [Hussain] as a Justice at the Supreme Court under the Constitution,” announced President Solih.

Faiz, along with Muthasim Adnan – who was recently appointed the Chief Justice - had been dismissed from the Supreme Court following a legislative amendment to Judicature Act to reduce the number of justices at the Supreme Court from seven to five justices.

The legislative amendment was passed by the Parliament on December 14, 2014. It amendment was repealed this year.

An investigative report by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) released earlier this year revealed that MVR 10 million in funds embezzled from MMPRC had been used in possible payouts to parliamentarians to secure the vote.

The Supreme Court currently has two vacancies; one left in the wake of Justice Abdulla Areef’s retirement on November 20, and the other left in the wake of Justice Abdul Ghani Mohamed’s impeachment on December 4.

President Solih had previously nominated High Court Judge Abdul Rauf Ibrahim for one of the vacancies at the Supreme Court. However, JSC has deferred a decision regarding Rauf pending the outcome of a misconduct probe.

The current justices serving at the Supreme Court are:

• Muthasim Adnan, Chief Justice
• Husnu Al Suood, Justice
• Dr. Azmeralda Zahir, Justice
• Aisha Sujoon Mohamed, Justice
• Mahaz Ali Zahir, Justice