Committee meeting attended by JSC President comes to abrupt end amidst heated argument

Today’s meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Independent Institutions, to which President of Judicial Service Commission (JSC) Adam Mohamed was summoned, has been concluded abruptly amidst a heated argument.

The president of JSC was summoned to the meeting in relation to a case submitted to the committee against JSC by four members of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

The case filed to the committee by the four members of MDP states that JSC is trying to impose undue influence in relation to the case filed against JSC to High Court by former President Mohamed Nasheed. They had accused the president and vice president of JSC of sending letters in violation of the law, requesting the court to expedite the case.

They had also said that JSC had summoned and threatened the chief judge of High Court as part of its efforts to influence the case filed to High Court by Nasheed.

At today’s committee meeting, Committee Chairperson, Kulhudhuffushi-South MP Mohamed Nasheed presented the case and gave the opportunity to the president of JSC to respond to the claims.

JSC president said that the case submitted to the committee is related to a case filed to High Court by former President Mohamed Nasheed. He said that according to the Constitution, and an order issued by the Supreme Court, no party should influence or undertake any activities that may influence a case filed to court.

He said that thus, he did not think that the case submitted to the committee was within the committee’s jurisdiction, and requested the chairman to clarify if the committee had the authority to investigate this matter.

Chairperson Nasheed said that the case under investigation by the committee was not related to the case filed to High Court by former President Nasheed.

“About the Supreme Court order, the way I see it, we are not talking about a case that has been filed to court. What we’re dealing with isn’t a case that is in court, or related to court proceedings. This is about accusations against JSC, that JSC summoned the chief judge of High Court and carried out some questionable activities,” Nasheed said.

Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed then raised a procedural issue and expressed full support for JSC’s president’s stand on the issue. He said that the committee has no authority to investigate this matter, and accused the committee chairperson of working with MDP members to conduct the meetings in violation of the law. He criticised Chairperson Nasheed and accused Nasheed of undermining the courts, and said that Nasheed had proposed to dissolve Hulhumale’ Court.

Nasheed responded and said that he was ‘proud’ of his work.

The meeting heated up when JSC president refused to reply to questions posed by Thoddoo MP Ali Waheed.

Ali Waheed said that JSC had summoned the chief judge presiding over the case related to the Hulhumale’ Court bench, Adam Shareef, to try and influence the trial. He said that JSC has the authority to take action against judges, and therefore, asked what influencing means if summoning Adam Shareef was not about influencing the trial.

“The whole country is peaceful, there are no protests, and then Adam Mohamed starts creating unrest,” he said.

The committee was concluded when the members started arguing loudly.

The chairperson did not announce a date for the next committee meeting.

The officials present at the meeting when it was concluded were JSC Member appointed by the president Ahmed Saleem, JSC Member appointed by the public Sheikh Shuaib Abdul Rahman and JSC Member appointed by lower courts Criminal Court Judge Abdullah Didi.