JSC president Adam Mohamed Abdulla told reporters that Shareef was susended due to a complaint filed by seven judges of the High Court last year, but declined to reveal the nature of the complaint. Adam stressed that an ongoing case does not prevent the commission from investigating complaints filed against judges. “There is no legal clause that says that we should delay investigating complaints [because of an ongoing case]. The two systems are designed to work separately,” he said. Adam said Shareef’s suspension was a “precautionary” action taken by the commission under article 37 of the Judges Act. Three out of the seven members who attended Wednesday’s meeting voted in favour of the suspension. Only one member objected to the decision whilst two abstained. High Court judge Abdulla Hameed, one of the judges who filed the complaint, exited the meeting halfway through. Adam declined to disclose the identity of the members who were present at Wednesday’s meeting. He said the commission is working on to assign an acting chief judge to the High Court. Shareef’s suspension came hours after the High Court cancelled a hearing into the case filed by former President Mohamed Nasheed challenging the legitimacy of the panel of judges presiding over the case against him for the arbitrary detention of chief criminal judge Abdulla Mohamed.