The Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee decided on Monday to seek the opinion of the Finance Ministry regarding increasing the retirement allowance for Chief Justice Muthasim Adnan.
Muthasim filed for retirement on May 8, amid turmoil within the Maldivian judiciary, after the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) suspended three Supreme Court justices on February 26 – Husnu Al-Suood, Dr. Azmiralda Zahir and Mahaz Ali Zahir – citing a criminal investigation against them by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Suood resigned on March 4, while Azmiralda and Mahaz were dismissed by the Parliament, in which the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) holds a supermajority, on May 14.
JSC has yet to make a decision on Muthasim’s retirement.
But on Sunday, the JSC asked the Public Accounts Committee to approve additional allowances for retiring chief justices.
The letter by JSC, of which Sun has received a copy, shows that the commission proposed providing retiring chief justices with a lump sum payment of MVR 493,600 instead of the current MVR 185,100, and increasing the monthly living allowance from MVR 47,182.50 to MVR 70,000.
At a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee on Monday morning, Funadhoo MP Mohamed Mamdhooh, a member of the PNC, proposed seeking counsel from the Finance Ministry regarding the proposal.
The committee then took a vote to revise regulation regarding the retirement of chief justices based on the recommendation of the Pay Commission and under advisement from the Finance Ministry.
The JSC has proposed continued transportation benefits including a driver and fuel charges, and a recalculated retirement package based on the total duration of service to the state, rather than solely the time served as a judge.
Muthasim has served as a judge for nine years, but has served the state for 24 years.
The dismissal of Azmiralda and Mahaz from the Supreme Court had come despite serious concerns regarding lack of due process and procedural fairness in the disciplinary proceedings against them by the JSC.
Suood, Azmiralda and Mahaz' suspension by the JSC on February 26 had come 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 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 claim that the allegations against them are 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.
The case against the Supreme Court justices 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 recently appointed to a senior position at state-run utility company, Fenaka Corporation.
President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, whose administration has been accused of deliberately undermining the country’s judicial independence, denied these claims in a press briefing on May 3, describing the events that fueled the allegations as mere “coincidences.”
The JSC had come under fire from both local and international organizations over its decision to push for the dismissal of the Supreme Court justices. On June 4, multiple international bodies sent an open letter to President Muizzu urging him to suspend the impeachment of Supreme Court judges, citing reports of serious procedural concerns.