Supreme Court Justice Dr. Azmiralda Zahir, who is currently on suspension, states statements given by Criminal Court judges to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC)’s Investigative Committee prove she had not influenced the lower court.  
Following information of an ongoing criminal investigation against the top court justice, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) suspended Azmiralda on February 26th. JSC is also investigating a disciplinary case against the top court justice for attempting to influence the Criminal Court to secure the release of her husband, Dr. Ismail Latheef, who was arrested last December.
Azmiralda has denied the allegations against her. Her legal representative released a statement on Tuesday, confirming the receipt of JSC’s investigative report. According to the lawyer, the report included the transcript of the statements provided for the investigation by three Criminal Court judges.
The lawyer stated that the judges' statements confirm Azmiralda did not try to influence any of the lower court judges before, during, or after her husband's appearance in court.
In this regard, he detailed that the statements confirm Azmiralda had not personally, nor through any intermediary, contacted any of the judges.
“None of the judges had made any remarks that would prompt such suspicions against Justice Dr. Azmiralda Zahir. As such, there is no foundation behind the allegations Justice Dr. Azmiralda Zahir attempted to influence Criminal Court judges but rather, doubts regarding certain government institutions,” he added.
The lawyer, highlighting that the judges' remarks are recorded in the transcripts, criticized the JSC for including statements not made by any judge in the investigative report. He emphasized that this constitutes a clear violation of the law, which mandates that investigations conducted by the Commission must be impartial.
Besides Azmiralda, Supreme Court Justice Mahaz Ali Zahir is facing the same charge as well, though he too, has denied the allegations.
Apart from the two judges, veteran lawyer and most recently a Supreme Court Justice, Husnu al-Suood was suspended on February 26th, but shortly after he had resigned from the position citing the government was attempting to influence the top court.
Right before the suspension of the three judges, the Maldives parliament passed a bill that sought to reduce the Supreme Court judges’ bench from seven to five.
President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu refused to ratify the amendment and sent the bill back to parliament for review.
Amid criticisms on the bill from political opposition and the legal fraternity, the parliament on Monday approved sending it back to the committee for further amendments. The bill had attracted criticism from some of the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) members as well.