30 June 2019
Judicial Service Commission (JSC) gave Justice Abdulla Didi permission to leave for Malaysia. His wife, Ghaniya Abdul Ghafoor, is reported to be living there. She was formerly deputy ambassador to Malaysia. She was dismissed from her job earlier this month by the foreign ministry.
Didi is suspected of taking bribes, releasing criminal suspects in return for favours and seeking government job opportunities for members of his family, including his wife, Ghaniya Abdul Ghafoor. Didi responded to the charges by the JSC committee within the five days given to him for replying.
That he responded to JSC’s charges within the stipulated time and let the island on after getting permission point to the fact that Justice Didi is not a flight risk.
Justice Didi was placed under suspension on 12 June, following a probe into a USD 1 million bribery allegation against him filed by Speaker of Parliament, Mohamed Nasheed.
“I did not receive a bank transfer of one million dollars. All bank transactions are on record. If there has been a transfer, it would have been on record and I would have obviously been notified of the transaction,” Ghaniya said to the Maldives Independent.
Former vice president Ahmed Adeeb is in Pune, India. He is receiving treatment for glaucoma. He was said to return to the Maldives on 6 June, he had his furlough extended till July 5 for additional medical tests, fuelling fears that he may abscond. He can shed light on the graft scandal of Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC).
Police affirmed that testimonials and cellular text messages on Suspect One’s (Ahmed Adeeb) phone established Judge Didi’s involvement. Phone logs also revealed communications where Judge Didi requested Suspect One to aid in securing employment for his wife Ghaniya Abdul Ghafoor at the Malaysian Embassy, which she got.
JSC decided to suspend Judge Didi on 12 June because of the ongoing investigations. Despite the Supreme Court’s stay order on the matter, JSC has maintained that the suspension would remain in effect.
Supreme Court of Maldives has declared any action taken by (JSC against Supreme Court Judge Abdulla Didi would be invalid. The court also highlighted that JSC does not have any mandate to overrule a court order. The Supreme Court issued the statement in the wake of JSC maintaining that the suspension of Judge Abdulla Didi is in place despite the Supreme Court order not to take any action against him.
The Parliament has declared Supreme Court’s stay order on the suspension of Supreme Court Justice Abdulla Didi as invalid and unconstitutional. The Judicial Committee of the Parliament presented its report based on information collected by questioning members of the JSC. The committee recommended that the Parliament ascertain the legality of JSC’s decision to suspend Supreme Court Justice Abdulla Didi, and urge Supreme Court not to interfere in the work of other State institutions.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Monday issued a statement asserting that the JSC was only accountable to the parliament as it possessed the constitutional authority to investigate complaints regarding judges.
The statement also highlighted that the constitutional method of examining JSC’s decisions is by summoning commission members to the parliament for questioning. Any subsequent action deemed necessary would also be taken by the parliament. The statement marks the first public comment issued by President Solih concerning the disagreement between JSC and the Supreme Court.
