Parliament committee supports JSC's decision to suspend justice
The decision was reached at a committee meeting held late Sunday night
The decision was reached at a committee meeting held late Sunday night
Parliament’s judiciary committee has voted in favor of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC)’s suspension of Supreme Court Justice Abdulla Didi.
Seven, out of eight members that attended the committee meeting late Sunday night, voted in support of the JSC decision; one of the members had left prior to the vote.
Following this, its report will be submitted to the parliament floor.
The committee report states that JSC’s decision was lawful and within its jurisdiction, and calls on the Supreme Court not to meddle in the case.
The Commission voted to suspend Justice Didi last Wednesday, as he is being investigated by both the JSC and the Maldives Police Service (MPS) over a bribery allegation.
The case against Didi was filed by current parliament speaker and former president, Mohamed Nasheed. He claims that the Supreme Court justice had been given USD one million to sentence him to prison in 2015.
The day after the JSC vote, Didi filed a case at the Supreme Court, seeking to nullify this decision. The court issued a stay order in the case the same day, directed to all relevant institutions.
JSC held an emergency meeting on Thursday night, and decided to go ahead with its initial decision, saying that the court order obstructed the Commission’s work- as per stated in the Constitution.
Speaking at the committee meeting, Kendhoo constituency MP Ali Hussain- only member to have voted against the report- noted that the Supreme Court order does not nullify JSC’s decision “nor state that it is wrong.”
Hence, MP Hussain emphasized that there was no need for the parliament to make a decision on the matter.
The motion was proposed by West-Henveiru constituency MP Hassan Latheef.
