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The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday ruled that the resignation or retirement of an apex court judge would not dispose of Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) proceedings already under way against them.<\/p>\n
A five-member bench delivered a four-to-one majority decision during a hearing on the federal government\u2019s intra-court appeal against the apex court\u2019s 2023 verdict in the Afiya Shehrbano Zia case<\/a>, which had held that judges who either retire or resign cannot be questioned by the SJC over alleged misconduct.<\/p>\n The bench was headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan and included Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Musarrat Hilali and Irfan Saadat Khan while Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi dissented from the majority decision.<\/p>\n The court ruled that only the SJC would have the authority to terminate the proceedings against a judge in case of their retirement or resignation.<\/p>\n Last month, former SC judge Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi \u2014 who was facing complaints of misconduct \u2014 resigned<\/a> from the apex court, however, the SJC had decided to continue the hearing of complaints against the judge despite his resignation.<\/p>\n