Committee votes to dismiss two Supreme Court justices

The Parliament’s Judiciary Committee on Sunday afternoon voted in favor of the controversial recommendation by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to dismiss Supreme Court justices Dr. Azmiralda Zahir and Mahaz Ali Zahir.

On February 26, Azmiralda, Mahaz and then-Supreme Court justice Husnu Al-Suood were suspended by the JSC, citing an ongoing investigation by the against them by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). All three were hearing a case challenging the controversial move by the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) – who hold a supermajority in the Parliament - to write anti-defection clauses into the Maldivian constitution.

Suood resigned from the top court in protest of JSC’s decision, and the commission later opened misconduct cases against Azmiralda and Mahaz, accusing them of conspiring to influence the Criminal Court judges.

On May 4, the JSC asked the Parliament to approve their dismissal. The Judiciary Committee, which is reviewing the recommendation, decided on Saturday to deny Azmiralda and Mahaz the chance to defend themselves against the allegations against them. 

On Sunday afternoon, the committee voted in favor of their dismissal in a closed-door meeting that was boycotted by members of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

The matter will now be put to a floor vote, and will require the backing of two-thirds of the Parliament to pass.

Both Azmiralda and Mahaz claim the allegations against them are baseless, and that the investigations by the JSC were tainted by the denial of due process to them.

The then-assistant registrar of High Court, Hussain Mohamed Haneef, who testified against Azmiralda and Mahaz at the JSC, was recently appointed to a senior position at state-run utility company, Fenaka Corporation.

The case against the Supreme Court justices stem from the allegation that they exerted their influence over the Criminal Court to secure the release of Azmiralda’s husband, Dr. Ismail Latheef, an anesthesiologist, who was arrested during a police raid on a massage parlor in Male’. However, Criminal Court judge Ibrahim Zihunee’s statement to JSC shows Mahaz had called him after Latheef was already released from police custody.

Suood, Azmiralda and Mahaz' suspension by the JSC on February 26 had come less than one hour ahead of a hearing scheduled at the Supreme Court regarding a request for an injunction to suspend the enforcement of controversial anti-defection clauses that were written into the Constitution last year. It also came shortly after the ruling PNC used its supermajority in the Parliament to push through amendments to the Judicature Act to downsize the Supreme Court bench from seven to five justices.

Meanwhile, the ACC has declined to provide any information regarding the their criminal investigation against the trio, which had triggered their suspension in the first place.

The JSC has come under fire from both local and international organizations over its decision to push for the dismissal of the Supreme Court justices.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration has been accused of deliberately undermining the country’s judicial independence. But he denied these allegations in a press briefing on May 3, describing the events that fueled the allegations as mere “coincidences.”