National media kicked up a storm on Saturday afternoon after it was reported that National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had filed a complaint against Justice Asif Saeed Khosa in the Supreme Judicial Council, alleging that the judge had violated the sanctity of the Speaker's office.

However, the attorney general and the Speaker's office refused to comment on the matter, the former saying that he had no knowledge of such a complaint being filed and the latter stating that no complaint had been filed "yet".

Later in the evening, a National Assembly spokesperson denied that the Speaker had ever filed a reference and asked that Sadiq be left out of speculations regarding the whole incident.

The 'reference' in question referred to a section of Justice Khosa's April 20 judgement on the Panama Papers case, in which the judge had observed that the Speaker had failed to file a reference against the then prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, with the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Read the full text of the judgement here.

The relevant paragraph from Justice Khosa's judgement reads as follows:

"... It is practically he [the Chief Executive of the Federation] who appoints the heads of all the institutions in the country which could have inquired into or investigated the allegations leveled against respondent No. 1 [Nawaz Sharif] and his family on the basis of the Panama Papers. Even the Speaker of the National Assembly who could refer the matter to the Election Commission of Pakistan belongs to his political party and is his nominee."

"These petitions had been entertained by this Court in the backdrop of an unfortunate refusal/failure on the part of all the relevant institutions in the country like the National Accountability Bureau, the Federal Investigation Agency, the State Bank of Pakistan, the Federal Board of Revenue, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the Speaker of the National Assembly to inquire into or investigate the matter or to refer the matter to the Election Commission of Pakistan against respondent No. 1 [Nawaz Sharif].

According to copies of the 'reference', the Speaker had allegedly complained that Justice Khosa's labeling of him as a "nominee or loyalist of the prime minister is a misstatement and contrary to the facts. It [is] also tantamount to disparagement and breach of privilege of the august house of the National Assembly comprising of 342 members and the speaker elected by those members as custodian of the House."

In the document, the Speaker was also quoted as taking strong exception to the judge's observation that the former 'failed' to file a reference against the prime minister, rebuking it by saying that "the Office of the Speaker is not an investigating agency".

Unusual criticism of Justice Khosa

The so-called 'reference' used unusually harsh language against Justice Khosa, including the statement that the honourable judge "miserably failed to comprehend and appreciate" the Speaker's powers under the Constitution; that he "is either totally ignorant of the provisions of the Constitution [...] or he has been prejudiced by his pre-inclination to condemn the constitutional offices of the state"; and that the judge's continuation in office would give him "further opportunity to write such biased, ill-founded and disputed judgements."

Other accusations included Justice Khosa's alleged contempt for the Speaker's position according to the Warrant of Precedent and the insinuation that the honourable judge "tarnished the noble image and reputation enjoyed by the judiciary in Pakistan and the comity of nations."

Inconsistencies in the document

However, there seemed to be inconsistencies in the circulating document, throwing in doubt its veracity. For example, the first paragraph quoted from the judgement — from page 9, the part Justice Khosa authored — does not exist in the form it was represented in the Speaker's complaint.

Furthermore, page 2 of the document, which seemingly detailed Justice Khosa's alleged misconduct, was missing from nearly all copies of the document circulating on digital and social media.

Lastly, the document carried no signatures or stamps to suggest where it originated from.

The Supreme Judicial Council

The Supreme Judicial Council consists of the Chief Justice of Pakistan; the two next most senior judges of the Supreme Court; and the two most senior chief justices of High Courts.

It deliberates on matters related to judges' conduct. Without its recommendation, no judge can be removed from office.

Under the Supreme Judicial Council's Procedure Of Inquiry, 2005, the punishment for a frivolous complaint against a sitting judge is detailed as follows:

"Whenever the Council finds that the information or evidence provided to it was false in material particulars or with the sole intention to malign a Judge, or scandalising the Court or to undermine it in any form whatsoever, it may direct action against all those who are found to have provided the said information, or evidence as the case may be."

With additional reporting by Haseeb Bhatti and Muhammad Bilal.