Committee approves Shaheed for appointment to Supreme Court in under 4 minutes

The Parliament’s Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved the High Court’s chief judge Hussain Shaheed for appointment to the Supreme Court in a meeting that wrapped up in four minutes.

One spot at the seven-member Supreme Court bench opened following the resignation of Husnu Al-Suood on March 4. The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) opened applications for the vacancy on March 10. President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu nominated Shaheed for the role, and filed a formal request seeking parliamentary approval for the role on Monday. The request was sent to the Judiciary Committee for review on Tuesday morning.

The committee convened at 11:45 am for a meeting that lasted just four minutes.

Central Fuvahmulah MP Ali Fazad proposed calling for a vote in favor of approving Shaheed for the new role. The motion was seconded by Faresmaathodaa MP Ashraf Rasheed, and passed with a majority vote.

Shaheed received his higher education in sharia and law from the Al-Azhar University in Egypt and from the Kulliyathul Dhiraasaathul Islaamiyya. He attained his Masters of Judicial Science and Sharia Policy from the Islamic University of Maldives (IUM).

Shaheed was appointed to the High Court on July 24, 2018, and as the chief judge of the court on October 30, 2023. He previously served as a magistrate at the S. Feydhoo Court, a magistrate at the N. Holhudhoo Court, and as a judge at the Criminal Court.

Suood, who was appointed to the bench of the country’s top court in December 2019, resigned on March 4, after he and two other Supreme Court justices – Dr. Azmiralda Zahir and Mahaz Ali Zahir – were suspended by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) citing an ongoing criminal investigation against them by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on February 26. Their suspension came less than one hour ahead of a hearing scheduled at the Supreme Court regarding a request for an injunction to suspend the enforcement of controversial anti-defection clauses that were written into the Constitution last year. It also came shortly after the ruling People’s National Congress (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.

In his resignation letter, Suood raised serious allegations of government intimidation.

He has also raised the issue of the suspension of the Supreme Court justices with international organizations, including the United Nations and the Commonwealth, as well as financial agencies including World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Meanwhile, the contentious judicature bill remained unsigned for close to two weeks, and was sent back to the Parliament for reconsideration on March 11. It is currently under review by the Judiciary Committee.