A judicial magistrate remanding the custody of an detainee without his presence, and then 'taking a brazen-faced stand' in support of his action has been suspended by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui.
Magistrate Rana Nasir Javed has also been stripped of all judicial powers, and his case has been referred to the Lahore High Court (LHC) for further action under the law preferably within next two months.
The court assistants, who filed what the Chief Justice described as 'false affidavits' in support of the magistrate were recommended for suspension and disciplinary action to the district and sessions judge of Rawalpindi.
Similarly, he has directed the Punjab IGP to report immediately to the Chief Justice on the actions he was asked to take against the DSP Shahid Pervez and Inspector Sohail Ehsan. These two officers are under suspension currently.
In a 14-page order on the suo motu action, the Chief Justice had initiated into the arrest and detention of Muhammad Habib-ul-Wahab al Khairi by the New Town Police and his interrogation by the CIA staff on a nearly 38-year-old first information report (FIR) on the sale of a low-cost quarter, the Chief Justice has summarised the evidence produced in his chamber.
The order contains stringent remarks against the judicial magistrate for violating the law on remand and also taking a false stand to justify his actions.
The Chief Justice has also taken a serious view of 'false affidavits' filed by four Rawalpindi lawyers to help the judicial magistrate, and asked the Punjab Bar Council to proceed against them according to the law. The order also asked the Bar Council to conclude its proceedings within four months.
In arriving at the conclusions that the magistrate had remanded Khairi in his absence, the Chief Justice had relied on the statements of the police officers as well as the lawyers, who had waited for Khairi's arrival at the Rawalpindi District Courts to oppose the police request and also move for his bail.
Magistrate Rana Nasir Javed, in his written statement, said the police had produced an accused in his court, identifying that he was Advocate Wahab KhairI. Since he did not know the accused personally, he accepted the police statement, and allowed them to retain his physical custody for investigation.
At the first hearing before the Chief Justice, the police officers had admitted that they had obtained the remand from the magistrate without producing him.
A very large contingent of the Supreme Court Bar Association had appeared for Khairi and Punjab Advocate General Shabbar Rizvi accompanied by Ms Afshan Ghazanfar represented the provincial government.
In his comments on the conduct of the magistrate, the order said: "Unfortunately, in the facts and circumstances of the present case, it is not possible to take a lenient view in respect of the magistrate. In this particular case, the dispute is about a quarter/house, emanating from a general power of attorney executed as far back as 24.8.1966. It is noteworthy that the Supreme Court finally decided the matter, adding: "Obviously, it was a dispute of civil nature and the magistrate without applying mind to favour somebody, granted remand. He has deliberately misconducted himself, and passed an illegal order, handing over a senior lawyer in police custody in an atmosphere and in a manner, which has seriously jeopardised the sanctity attached to a court of law. He had not observed the legal formalities before passing the remand order. Not only he passed a wrong order, but also took a brazen-faced stand that Mr Khairi was produced before him. He has a strong tendency of committing any mischief, and is absolutely unfit for judicial service."
Meanwhile, the Chief Justice has retrained Malik Tahseen Khalid, Shahid Mahmood Mughal, Chaudhary Nisar Ahmed, and Chaudhary Muhammad Maqbool Gujjar from appearing before any court of law. He has described their conducts as 'grave, indiscipline, and misconduct.'
Comments
Comments are closed.