The Judicial Service Commission denied allegations of depriving Supreme Court Justice Dr Azmiralda Zahir of the right to legal counsel.

Following Tuesday’s hearing by a JSC committee investigating alleged ethical misconduct, Justice Azmiralda’s lawyer Ibrahim Shameel accused committee members of refusing to allow him to speak in her defence. 

The judicial watchdog asserted in a statement on Wednesday that “all rights established by the constitution and laws for judges have been fully provided” to the suspended justice.

“The person required to respond to the committee's questions is not the counsel but the judge. The counsel's role is to provide legal advice to the judge when needed. The committee has repeatedly provided this opportunity to both the judge and counsel. The opportunity for the judge and counsel to consult privately has also been repeatedly offered,” the commission said, citing procedures in the JSC law. 

But according to the lawyer, the committee denied his repeated requests to present procedural objections and insisted that Azmiralda herself must respond to questions. “And if the investigation is carried out with the legal counsel unable to say anything, the committee was asked whether attending the investigation with a photo of the legal counsel means that the opportunity to seek the assistance of legal counsel had been given,” Shameel said.

But committee members said the lawyer could respond to the investigation report in writing, he added.

Following the JSC’s statement, Shameel challenged the committee to publish a transcript of the hearing. 

Two former attorneys general criticised the JSC’s conduct of the disciplinary proceedings, which is being conducted behind closed doors despite appeals for public hearings. As JSC investigations are final and could lead to dismissals, “the judge's procedural and fundamental rights must be ensured.” Azima Shukoor wrote on Facebook, as Dhiyana Saeed suggested that the government should replace the Supreme Court with a committee at the President’s Office.

At the hearing, Azmiralda accused Attorney General Ahmed Usham of threatening to initiate disciplinary hearings against her after the Supreme Court accepted a constitutional challenge to anti-defection rules that empowered parties to unseat lawmakers, Dhauru reported.

Last week, Usham recused himself from the JSC committee.

Azmiralda was suspended along with Justices Husnu Suood and Mahaz Ali Zahir on February 26, minutes before hearings were due to resume, effectively blocking the pending judgment as a minimum of five justices must preside over constitutional cases. 

Suood resigned in protest earlier this month.

On Wednesday, the JSC issued a new call for applications for the vacancy on the Supreme Court bench, citing an insufficient number of candidates from their announcement two days ago. Mariyam Nihayath, a former deputy prosecutor general, was the only applicant. 

“The fact that no one has applied, as required by law, to become an apex court justice means quite something,” observed former lawmaker Imthiyaz Fahmy, president of the Democrats.