‘No evidence’: Undue influence probe against Azmiralda dropped a year after dismissal from Supreme Court

The investigation into corruption allegations against former Supreme Court judge Dr. Azmiralda Zahir was dropped over lack of evidence on Wednesday, over a year after she was dismissed from the top court.

Sun has learnt that investigators failed to uncover any evidence that Azmiralda committed a crime. The Prosecutor General’s Office has therefore decided not purse any charges against her, and the police have subsequently filed the case.

While the police have filed the case, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) have yet to provide any official comment regarding their own investigation into the case.

On February 26, 2025, then-Supreme Court judges Azmiralda, Mahaz Ali Zahir and Husnu Al-Suood were suspended by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), citing an ongoing investigation by the against them by the ACC. All three were hearing a case challenging the controversial move by the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) to write anti-defection clauses into the Maldivian constitution. It also came shortly after the ruling PNC used its supermajority in the Parliament to push through amendments to the Judicature Act to downsize the Supreme Court bench from seven to five justices - a bill that was later tabled following public backlash.

Suood resigned from the top court in protest of JSC’s decision, and the commission later opened misconduct cases against Azmiralda and Mahaz, accusing them of conspiring to influence the Criminal Court. Azmiralda and Mahaz - both of whom have maintained that the allegations against them were baseless and that the investigations by the JSC were tainted by the denial of due process to them - were dismissed by the Parliament with majority votes of 68-11 on May 14, 2025.

The case against them stemmed from the allegation that they exerted their influence over the Criminal Court to secure the release of Azmiralda’s husband, Dr. Ismail Latheef, an anesthesiologist, who was arrested during a police raid on a massage parlor in Male’. However, Criminal Court judge Ibrahim Zihunee’s statement to JSC shows Mahaz had called him after Latheef was already released from police custody.

Meanwhile, the then-assistant registrar of High Court, Hussain Mohamed Haneef, who testified against Azmiralda and Mahaz at the JSC, was later appointed to a senior position at state-run utility company, Fenaka Corporation.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, whose administration was accused of deliberately undermining the country’s judicial independence, denied these claims, describing the events that fueled the allegations as mere “coincidences.”

ACC remained tight-lipped over its investigation into the case. When questioned in February regarding the delay in the investigation, a spokesperson from the commission told Sun that they were treating the case as a special priority, but declined to disclose any details. The ACC added that it has a legal obligation to investigate corruption allegations submitted to the commission, irrespective of who was being accused.

Azmiralda and Aisha Shujoon had made history with their appointment to the Supreme Court back on September 4, 2019, becoming the first female judges at the country’s top court.