Judge Arshad Malik made OSD

LAHORE: Former accountability judge Arshad Malik was made OSD at the Lahore Sessions Court on Saturday.

A notification to this effect was circulated by the registrar after approval by the Lahore High Court chief justice.

The Islamabad High Court on July 12 removed Judge Malik from his post amid a controversy surrounding a leaked videotape showing his purported confession that he had been “pressurised and blackmailed” to convict ex-PM Nawaz Sharif in the Al-Azizia corruption reference. The judge had denied the allegations, saying there was no pressure on him to convict Sharif and that the videos shown by PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz of his alleged confession at a press conference were "fake and based on lies". Judge Malik, on December 4, 2018, handed ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif seven-year jail sentence in the Al Azizia Steel Mills corruption reference. He, however, had acquitted him in a second reference related to the Flagship Investments.

Following the controversy, the IHC had repatriated him to the LHC, his parent department, for disciplinary proceedings.

A notification issued by the IHC on August 22 stated that the disclosures and admissions made by Judge Malik in his press release issued on July 7 — a day after Maryam's presser — and in an affidavit he submitted to the IHC on July 11 to deny the allegations against him, prima facie "constitute acts of misconduct and violation of the code of conduct, which warrant initiation of disciplinary proceedings against him".

According to the notification, due to the above reasons, the IHC chief justice had issued orders to place Judge Malik under suspension and repatriate him to the LHC with immediate effect, "for disciplinary proceedings to be conducted in accordance with law".