Former accountability court judge Arshad Malik passed away on Friday afternoon. The news has been confirmed by his family. He had contracted COVID-19 and was being treated at Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad.
Judge Arshad Malik had been posted to the accountability court on March 13, 2018.
In December 2018, Malik convicted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Al-Azizia reference while acquitting him in the Flagship reference.
But On July 6, 2019, in a press conference, Maryam Nawaz had claimed that former judge was blackmailed into convicting Nawaz Sharif in Al-Azizia reference without any evidence. She also said that Arshad Malik met with PML-N leader Nasir Butt at his own residence. She also showed a video clip where both can be seen talking to each other.
Judge Malik in reply to these allegations said that the video clip was edited and it didn’t give the complete picture. He also said that during the trial Nawaz Sharif’s family continuously bribed and threatened him to have the judgement in their favour.
On July 12, the acting chief justice of IHC asked the Ministry of Law to remove Judge Arshad Malik from his position until an investigation on the video scandal was completed.
In July 2020, the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) administration removed Arshad Malik from service on charges of misconduct after investigating the video scandal.
On October 2, the judge challenged his removal in the LHC. He was of the view that rules and regulations were not met in his dismissal and he didn’t commit any misconduct. A three-member tribunal was constituted to hear Arshad Malik’s plea.
