Members at Parliamentary Committee on Judiciary have cast doubt on the qualities of Chief Justice at the Supreme Court Dr. Ahmed Abdulla Didi.
The administration of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has submitted amendments to Judicial Service Commission Act, including changing Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) as a body run under Judicial Service Commission (JSC). Other notable amendments include giving JSC the authority to allocate the number of judges to lower courts, appoint judges to lower courts and increasing the number of judges at the Supreme Court bench from 5 to 7. Another amendment says an individual must be at least 40-years-old to become eligible as a member of JSC and banning lawyers who are members of JSC from practising law.
In response to the amendments, Chief Justice Dr. Ahmed Abdulla Didi has sent a 25-page letter to Parliamentary Committee on Judiciary, which drew wide criticism from the members. In this regard, citing the letter, members at the committee cast doubt on the qualities and knowledge of the chief justice.
Hisaan Hussain, who represents the parliament at JSC, said compiling, passing and amending laws fall under the mandate of the parliament and the Supreme Court or the chief justice does not have a role to make suggestions to the parliament.
Moreover, Parliamentarian Moosa Siraj said when chief justice goes beyond his legal boundaries set in the constitution and existing laws, his qualities are questionable.
The committee is currently researching the contents of the letter sent by the chief justice.