ISLAMABAD, Oct 26 (INP): Former Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on Friday challenged the Supreme Judicial Council’s decision removing his as a high court judge. President Arif Alvi had removed Siddiqui as judge of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on the recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Council (SCJ) on October 11. The SJC had unanimously opined that while delivering the speech before the District Bar Association in Rawalpindi on July 21, “Siddiqui, an IHC judge, displayed a conduct unbecoming of a high court judge”. In his constitutional petition, filed in the Supreme Court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution of Pakistan, Siddiqui stated that he was discriminately sacked on account of making a public speech. The former IHC judge contended that he has been sacked without a proper inquiry to prove his claims in the speech he delivered at the Rawalpindi Bar Association. He also alleged that the SJC order “suffered from various illegalities and malafides” and prayed to the apex court to set aside the notification and restore his position as IHC judge. The decision was taken by five members of the SJC led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar. Other judges on the panel included: Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Justice Gulzar Ahmad, Lahore High Court’s Chief Justice Yawar Ali and Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court Justice Ahmed Ali Sheikh. Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, who is senior most among SC judges, wrote in the 39-page report that Justice Siddiqui did not even spare the Supreme Court when he remarked that he knew who sent messages to the apex court and who delivered them. Such reckless and irresponsible conduct of a high court judge was “not countenanced by any standard of judicial propriety and the Code of Conduct in this country is no exception in that regard”, the report stated.