Supreme Judicial Council of Pakistan

The Supreme Judicial Council of Pakistan is a judicial body of the superior judiciary of Pakistan, empowered under the Article 209 of the constitution of Pakistan, to hear cases of misconduct against judges.

Constitutional composition

The composition of the Council is set out in the constitution as:

• The Chief Justice of Pakistan;
• The two next most senior judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan;
• The two most senior Chief Justices of the High courts.

Where the council is investigating a member of the council he is replaced by the next most senior judge.

Current composition

Name	Retirement	Qualifying criteria	Comments
Yahya Afridi	25 October 2027	Chief Justice of Pakistan
Mansoor Ali Shah	27 November 2027	Senior most judge of Supreme Court
Munib Akhtar	13 December 2028	Second senior most judge of Supreme Court
Aalia Neelum	11 November 2028	Senior most chief justice of a provincial high court (Lahore High Court)	Aalia Neelum will remain member of the council until his retirement unless he is elevated to Supreme Court or if there is a reference against her
Muhammad Ejaz Swati	5 June 2025	Second senior most chief justice of a provincial high court (Balochistan High Court)	Swati will remain member of the council until his retirement unless he is elevated to Supreme Court or if there is a reference against him
Ms. Jazeela Aslam		Secretary of the Council	Member in virtue of being Registrar of the Supreme Court

Powers

No judge of any of the five High Courts or of the Supreme Court of Pakistan may be dismissed except by the President on the report of the Supreme Judicial Council. The Council may start proceedings against a judge either by its own initiative or by reference from the President of Pakistan.

If the Council concludes that the judge is guilty of misconduct and should be removed from office, it can recommend this to the President.

A judge of a court or tribunal subordinate to a High Court may be dismissed by the High Court concerned.

List of judges referenced to Supreme Judicial Council

Name	Court	Reasons	Result
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry	Supreme Court of Pakistan		Acquitted
Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui	Islamabad High Court	Speech against military and ISI[1] On March 22, 2024, Supreme Court ruled that the dismissal of former Islamabad High Court Judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui was unlawful and he shall be considered as a retired Judge.[2]	Retired and Acquitted
Qazi Faez Isa	Supreme Court of Pakistan	Purchase price of one property not cited [3]	Acquitted
Muhammad Farrukh Irfan Khan	Lahore High Court	Offshore company reported in Panama Papers[4]	Resigned
Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi[4]	Islamabad High Court		Acquitted
Sayyed Muhammad Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi[4]	Lahore High Court	SJC proceedings continued in light of SC decision[5] and opinioned that he was guilty of misconduct and should have been removed as a Judge.[6] The Ministry of Law and Justice (Pakistan) issued a notification effectuating his removal.[7]	Removed
Mazhar Iqbal Sidhu[4]	Lahore High Court		Resigned

References

1. "Islamabad High Court judge sacked for his remarks against ISI". The Hindu. October 12, 2018 – via www.thehindu.com.
2. Supreme, Court of Pakistan (22 March 2024). "IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN (Original Jurisdiction)" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-05-13.
3. "Purchase price of one property not cited". thenews.com.pk.
4. Iqbal, Nasir (December 27, 2018). "SJC to hear complaint of misconduct against LHC judge". DAWN.COM.
5. Supreme Court Order. "IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN (Appellate Jurisdiction)" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-05-13.
6. Bhatti, Haseeb (2024-03-07). "Ex-SC judge Mazahar Naqvi 'guilty of misconduct', should've been sacked: Supreme Judicial Council". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
7. Ministry of Law. "REMOVE SAYYED MAZAHAR ALI AKBAR NAQVI(FORMERLY, JUDGE, SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN)FROM HIS OFFICE". Retrieved 2024-05-13.