Shareef was suspended due to complaints regarding management of High Court: JSC

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has said that Chief Judge of High Court Ahmed Shareef Ali was suspended indefinitely earlier today duet to complaints filed to the commission regarding his management of High Court.

Speaking at a press conference today, President of JSC Adam Mohamed Abdullah said that the decision to suspend Shareef came following several complaints being filed by seven judges of High Court regarding the management of High Court, in May 2012.

“The complaints are issues regarding the management of High Court,” Adam Mohamed said.

Adam Mohamed said that no further details can be given as the cases are under investigation.

He said that it was necessary for the investigation to summon and question the administrative staff of the court.

“There is some information required for the investigation, which we need to obtain through questioning administrative staff of various levels of the court. So it’s possible that questions are raised if the chief judge fails to take action, by those who want to raise questions in the future. So while a fair investigation such as this one is ongoing, we can only complete the investigation by summoning administrative staff as witnesses,” he said.

The meeting during which the decision was made to suspend Shareef was attended by seven out of the total ten members of the commission.

Adam Mohamed said that three members voted in favour of suspending Shareef, two voted against, and two abstained.

Even after being repeatedly asked by reporters, Adam Mohamed did not reveal which members voted in favour and which voted against the suspension.

Speaking at the press conference, Member appointed to JSC by the President, Mohamed Saleem (Reynis Saleem) said that 25 meetings had been held regarding allegations that the chief judge had violated the law.

While Adam Mohamed said that the decision to investigate the complaints against Shareef was made in May 2012, Saleem said that Shareef was asked to respond to the claims in February 2012.

Due to this inconsistency, it has not been possible to determine when the cases against the chief judge were filed to JSC.