Pak judge Arshad Malik repatriated to Lahore High Court for disciplinary proceedings

A Pakistani anti-corruption court judge, who was removed from the post following the surfacing of a video, purportedly showing him saying that he was pressurised to convict former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a graft case, was on Thursday repatriated to the Lahore High Court for disciplinary proceedings.

Justice Arshad Malik sentenced Sharif to seven years of imprisonment in Al-Azizia steel mills case on December 24 last year.

In a video released last month by Sharif's daughter Maryam, Justice Malik was purportedly seen confessing in a chat with a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader that he was under immense pressure from certain elements to convict the three-time premier in the graft case.

He was working with the Islamabad High Court (IHC), where he was deputed by Lahore High Court, when he convicted Sharif.

The IHC last month removed Malik as judge of the accountability court and directed the law department to send him back to his parent high court after damaging video was leaked by Sharif's daughter Maryam.

In an official notification, the IHC said the disclosures and admissions made by Judge Malik prima facie "constitute acts of misconduct and violation of the code of conduct, which warrant initiation of disciplinary proceedings against him".

"Judge Malik should be suspended and repatriated to the Lahore High Court with immediate effect for disciplinary proceedings," the notification said.

The IHC took action a day before the Supreme Court was set to announce verdict in the case about Judge Malik's video scandal.

Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa during the hearing said that actions of Judge Malik has brought shame and dishonour for all honest judges in the country.

Soon after the video surfaced, top PML-N leadership demanded release of Sharif from the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore, while the Prime Minister Imran Khan-led government distanced itself from the controversy, saying that the matter pertained to judiciary and it should deal with it.