Jailed chief justice Abdulla Saeed's lawyers expressed grave concern by the confusion surrounding the sudden change of the judge presiding over the case where the top judge is facing charges for allegedly impeding the functioning of the state.
Chief justice Saeed is facing four separate charges which includes terrorism after being accused in the plot to overthrow the government.
The island nation has been embroiled in fresh political turmoil after the Supreme Court on February 1 ordered the immediate release of jailed political leaders including self-exiled former president Mohamed Nasheed.
President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom on February 5 had declared state of emergency after his last ditch attempt to convince the top court to revoke the order failed, purged the Supreme Court by arresting two judges and the remaining political leaders and ultimately had the order revoked.
Less than a day after the arrest of the two judges, the remaining three judges rescinded its ruling to release the political leaders referring to the concerns raised by president Yameen in the letters he had sent to the chief justice hours before state of emergency was declared.
In addition to the terrorism charge, the top judge who remains in custody under the state of emergency has also been charged with obstruction of justice over his refusal to handover his mobile phone to the police.
Judge Ahmed Hailam had presided over the preliminary hearing of the case, but the second hearing on Sunday was heard by judge Ibrahim Ali.
However, the new judge appeared to have been unaware of the preliminary hearing which had sparked heated exchanges between the defence and prosecution.
Judge Ali was then forced to clear up confusion with the administration staff, as the court documents had failed to mention the preliminary hearing.
The defence had objected to the sudden change which it said could not be done without prior notice. The defence lawyers had also argued that the exact nature of the charges against the chief justice remain unclear as he has been charged with deliberately blocking the receipt of the letters sent by president Yameen to the Supreme Court.
The defence also questioned the prosecution's request for secret testimonies citing safety concerns, arguing how the defendant who has been remanded until the end of the trial could be deemed as a risk to prosecution witnesses.
Following the argument, judge Ali had put off a decision on the prosecution's request for a later hearing before scheduling the next hearing for Thursday despite requests by the prosecution and the defence for 10 and 15 days respectively to present their cases.
In addition to the chief justice, former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and top court judge Ali Hameed have been charged with terrorism over the alleged plot to overthrow the government.
In addition to Nasheed, the other top political leaders named in the now rescinded order included Jumhoory Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim, religiously conservative Adhaalath Party (AP) leader Sheikh Imran Abdulla, former defence minister Mohamed Nazim, former vice president Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Ghafoor and Gayoom's lawmaker son Faris Maumoon.
Former prosecutor general Muhthaz Muhsin, magistrate Ahmed Nihan and Adheeb's uncle Hamid Ismail make up the rest of the list.
