'Supreme Court Justices cannot be kept in jail without an order from the Supreme Court': Hassan Latheef

MDP's Chairperson lawyer Hassan Latheef said that Supreme Court Justices cannot be confined in prison without a court order from the Supreme Court, and added that the arrest itself becomes unlawful if they are still being held in prison without an order.

Latheef posted a tweet saying that it is mandatory to get a court order from the remaining Justices at the Supreme Court if they were to confine Chief of Justice and Justice Ali Hameed in prison after the state of emergency was lifted. He added that detaining the two Justices without an order makes the arrest unlawful.

With regard to that Hassan Latheef has called out to the government to release Chief of Justice Abdulla Saeed and Justice Ali Hameed.

Hassan Latheef referenced article 12 of the Judicature Act which is the article that includes the privileges assured to Justices. Section (b) of the article mentions that a Supreme Court Justice can only be detained under a court order signed by the majority of the remaining Justices from the Supreme Court.

Several legal professionals retweeted Latheef's tweet highlighting an important legal clause.

The two Supreme Court Justices were arrested on 6th February, after the declaration of state of emergency. However, all the legal articles that were suspended under the state of emergency have been dismissed after the state of emergency was revoked. Therefore it is unlawful to keep the Supreme Court Justices in prison now.