Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has reiterated at the Supreme Court that Judge Abdulla Didi was suspended according to the laws and regulations.
The hearings on the case submitted by Supreme Court Judge Didi against JSC over his suspension began on Thursday. The case is studied by Chief Justice Dr. Ahmed Abdulla Didi along with Judge Adam Mohamed Abdulla and Abdul Ghani Mohamed.
The lawyers representing the judge is seeking to abolish the suspension and to declare the suspension as illegal. The lawyers expressed major concerns over the allegations noted in a case submitted to JSC by Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed, which states USD 1 million was deposited to the account of Judge Didi's spouse.
However, JSC lawyer Hassan Zaheen said Judge Didi was suspended following an investigation by Maldives Police Service and not because of the case submitted by the parliament speaker. In response to the comments made by the lawyers of judge who maintained he was suspended without consulting him or giving him the opportunity to respond, lawyers representing JSC mentioned the suspension came according to the guidelines as JSC is mandated to make a decision on the matter. The lawyer added it is not mandatory to ask the accused person to respond in that situation.
When asked whether JSC decided to suspend Didi after scheduling the case submitted by Nasheed at the JSC meeting, Zaheen revealed Didi was suspended in reference to the letter sent by Maldives Police Service, at a time when the case submitted by Nasheed was on the agenda. JSC suspended Supreme Court Judge Abdulla Didi in June referring to an investigation of Maldives Police Service against him.
The judge was suspended with majority of the 12-member commission voting in favour. Following the suspension, Supreme Court issued an order not to take any action against him. However, JSC said the stay order issued by the Supreme Court obstruct the constitutional and legal rights of the commission and therefore decided not to abide by the order.