One of the nominees selected by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to the Supreme Court bench is High Court Judge Mohamed Saleem. He topped the list of 12 candidates with the highest marks in the evaluation.
Despite getting top scores in the evaluation, there was some debate among the JSC members as to whether Saleem meets the requirements for appointment to the Supreme Court. The debate took place because some members believed that he lacked the requirements of a judge under Article 149(c) of the Constitution.
Article 149(c) of the Constitution states that any person appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court must be 30 years of age and have at least seven years of experience as a judge or as a lawyer or both. The question is whether Saleem meets the requirement for experience.
A lawyer who spoke to Adhadhu said Saleem meets this requirement because he was a legal officer of the High Court for 12 years before becoming a High Court judge. The lawyer believes this meets the constitutional requirement on experience.
According to the Judges Act, a person appointed as a High Court judge must have five years of experience as a judge or lawyer. Saleem is a High Court judge. Prior to his appointment as a judge, he was a legal officer of the High Court. He was then appointed to the High Court bench on the grounds that becoming a legal officer of the High Court fulfilled that requirement. This is also a reason why there is no room to question Saleem's eligibility, the lawyer said.
The JSC also ruled that Saleem met the constitutional requirements as he had been licensed to practice law for more than seven years. Since a legal officer can only be licensed to practice law, this requirement is fulfilled during Saleem's duration in the High Court.
The other nominee selected by the JSC to the Supreme Court bench is former High Court judge Abdulla Hameed.
Hameed was removed from the High Court on June 6, 2022, after the JSC investigated and sent to the parliament the case of acceptance of flats given to former judges by the government of former President Abdullah Yameen.
Two seats on the Supreme Court bench became vacant following the dismissal of Justices Dr. Azmiralda Zahir and Mahaz Ali Zahir. They were accused of influencing the Criminal Court judges.
Meanwhile, former Chief Justice Dr. Ahmed Abdulla Didi stated that any new appointments to the Supreme Court will be unlawful because Justices Azmiralda and Mahaz were dismissed without following due process.
