Advocate Sardar Salman filed a complaint alleging that the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi had violated Article 209 of the Constitution.
The complainant forwarded copies of the complaint to each member of the council and asked the SJC to remove the chief justice and the other three justices from their seats.
In response to a ruling on the Punjab elections, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the Pakistan Peoples Party, and other parties have publicly demanded the resignation of the chief justice.
On April 3, Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, two judges of the Supreme Court, wrote to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, requesting that a meeting of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) be called to look into the accusations leveled against Justice Mazahir Ali Naqvi.
After Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah made an audio recording of an alleged conversation between the chief justice of the highest court and former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi public, Justice Naqvi gained notoriety. However, during his tenure as a judge, the judge and members of his family were alleged to have committed errors and abused their positions of authority in a deliberate manner.
The judge should be exonerated if the reference did not include reliable evidence against Justice Naqvi, and under the legislation, a report was required to be sent if the judge was not freed. In any case, the letter noted, "The goal was to preserve the sanctity of the judge and the judiciary."
The letter emerged at the same time that Balochistan Bar requested that the SJC initiate a reference against Justice Naqvi.
The referral demanded an investigation into Justice Naqvi's assets after noting that the judge's audio leaks, which amounted to a breach of the code of conduct, had contributed to raising concerns about the independence and dignity of the court. The reference stated that "Justice Naqvi must be dealt with in accordance with Article 209 and removed from his post."
Earlier, the Pakistan Bar Council had also filed a reference against Justice Naqvi and demanded his resignation over the alleged audio leak.