On Friday, the Lahore High Court's executive committee fired former accountability court judge Arshad Malik, who had convicted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in the 2018 Azizia Steel Mill reference.
A seven-member committee fired a district and session judge on corruption charges based on an investigation into a video released by PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz. 'Confession' is shown. The inquiry report found the country guilty.
The judge admitted to being in a compromising situation but claimed he was trapped after being evicted.
The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan of the Lahore High Court. The seven-member body also includes Justice Muhammad Amir Bhatti, Justice Shehzad Ahmad Khan, Justice Ayesha Malik, Justice Shahid Waheed, and Justice Ali Baqir Najafi.
On August 26 last year, Justice Sardar Ahmed Naeem of the Lahore High Court was assigned by the committee to conduct the inquiry.
PML-N had a judge in the Azizia reference to convict Nawaz under strictures.
However, the judge also acquitted the former prime minister in the flagship investment reference.
Following the release of a video clip of the judge at a news conference of PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz in July last year, the Islamabad High Court summoned him and explained his position and directed him to submit an affidavit.
In his affidavit, the judge denied the party's claim that he had been blackmailed by PML-N supporters through an "immoral video".
He also confessed to meeting the residence of Jatiya Emirs in Saudi Arabia and meeting Hussain Nawaz with Nawaz Sharif
On August 22, the IHC suspended the judge and sent his parents to the LHC for further disciplinary action.
On September 14, the Lahore High Court made the judge an officer on Special Duty (OSD) from the date of suspension and posted him in the Sessions Court.
Malik joined the district judiciary on August 1, 2000 and was promoted to the post of Sessions Judge on September 8, 2010. He was due to retire on May 24, 2022.
PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif welcomed the dismissal of the judge, upholding the verdict proved that Nawaz was innocent.
'The decision of the LHC management committee to dismiss [former] accountability court judge Irshad Malik proves that Nawaz Sharif was unjustly sentenced.' he tweeted,
Today their innocence has been proven. As a matter of natural justice, the sentence of Mian SBK [Nawaz] should be quashed.
In another statement, Shahbaz thanked God for "telling the truth" to his brother Nawaz, who was serving the country. It has been proved that the judge did not give a verdict based on justice, and now justice is demanding that the sentence against Nawaz Sharif be abolished.
Former Prime Minister's daughter and PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz called the LHC committee's decision a 'victory of truth over falsehood.'
'This decision has left a scar not only on Nawaz but also on the judiciary,' he said.
He demanded that the verdict of the tainted judge against Nawaz should now be set aside.
'Now is the time to decide the innocence of the country's prime minister and the country's most popular politician three times,' he stated.
'The decision to dismiss the judge of seven esteemed judges shows how Nawaz was [unfairly] convicted.'
Information Minister Shibli Faraz tweeted that the country's dismissal was "a drop scene in an era where some judges were blackmailed by the Crown."
'The Prime Minister and his leadership should apologize to the nation for patronizing the traits of blackmail and corruption, mafiosu mentality.' he added,
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shehzad Akbar said that the country was appointed by former Prime Minister and senior vice president of PML-N Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
He added that the judge, one of the two characters in the blackmail case, had been fired from the country. The second character in the game is Maryam Nawaz. He tried to influence the case by using the judge's video. ”
Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the removal of the judge emphasized the importance of moving towards judicial reform.
'Unfortunately, if the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Law wait any longer for [system reform],' he tweeted,
'Establish Pakistan's judicial service and improve the quality of judges. In this way, judges will consider themselves bound by the law.'
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