ISLAMABAD: Two days before he was scheduled to appear before the Supreme Judicial Council in connection with a corruption reference, Justice Mazhar Iqbal Sidhu of the Lahore High Court (LHC) resigned on Tuesday.
The council was scheduled to take up Justice Sidhu’s case on March 2 after already having issued show cause notices to him and another judge.
A source privy to the development said that a massive bank transaction in the name of Sidhu’s driver was unearthed. It was allegedly on the judge’s behalf, which prompted the investigation.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the LHC confirmed that Justice Sidhu had stepped down while “citing personal reasons”.
He was appointed as a high court judge on February 23, 2010, and was ranked 10th in the LHC seniority list. He was eligible to remain on the bench until February 2023.
Sidhu was among the five judges against whom the Supreme Judicial Council initiated misconduct proceedings last month.
This isn’t the first time the judge has made headlines. In March 2014, Justice Sidhu’s security staff allegedly went after a traffic warden to the LHC for not providing the former “due protocol” when he visited Lahore city traffic office for obtaining a driver’s licence. The judge then reportedly went on to summon city traffic officer, directing him to suspend the warden for “misbehaving with him”.
The judges appeared before the council during the first two weeks of February. Of them, three are LHC judges, while the other two are from the Islamabad High Court, sources said.
According to Article 209 of the constitution, the SJC comprises the chief justice of Pakistan, the next two senior-most judges of the apex court and the two senior-most chief justices of provincial high courts. It is empowered to hear complaints against top government functionaries such as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman, members of the Election Commission of Pakistan and members of the judiciary. The SJC proceedings are always in-camera while the Supreme Court registrar serves as secretary to the council.