Child maid case: Brothers in gown steered accused couple out of trouble

Two ADSJs worked post-haste to save neck of one of their own


Rizwan Shehzad January 27, 2017
PHOTO: AFP

ISLAMABAD: On January 3, two judges and a lawyer worked at breakneck pace to clear another judge and his wife of allegations of mistreating a child maid who worked for them.

Additional District & Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Raja Khurram Ali Khan and his wife, Maheen Zafar, had been booked for torturing 10-year-old Tayyaba, but ADSJ Muhammad Atta Rabbani, ADSJ Raja Asif Mehmood and lawyer Raja Zahoorul Hassan made sure the two were cleared of the charges.

Judge Rabbani handed over the custody of the juvenile housemaid in a hasty manner and allowed the minor and her legal guardians to use his chambers as pathway to avoid the media standing outside the court. Subsequently, the family went missing for around eight days. Later, it emerged before the Supreme Court that the lawyer had provided them accommodation in Burma Town, Islamabad.



At the time, lawyer Hassan had mocked reporters standing outside the courtroom, telling them to “recite Fateha over the case as the girl has left with her family half an hour ago and reached where she had to reach.” He was then congratulated for settling the matter in a day’s time.

On January 3, Judge Rabbani also ordered the Industrial Area SHO to “recover and produce the detenu [Tayyaba] today within court hours and submit your report today,” noting that the minor girl had been kept in a crisis centre without her parents’ consent. “Petitioners are parents of the alleged detenu and they are also natural guardian. Obliviously [sic], the detenu is minor girl and she would be safe in the lap of their [sic] parents and not in the crisis centre,” his order read.

While declaring that custody in the crisis centre was not proper, he said “Tabyia [sic] bibi is handed over to her parents … they are responsible for the safe custody … there is no need to proceed the petition further … file be consigned to record room”.

Judge Mehmood approved the compromise between the parties after lawyer Hassan and an uncle of the girl identified them as the parents and guardians.

On the same day, Judge Mehmood granted pre-arrest bail to Maheen while accusing the police of mala fide intentions in the case. “Apparently malafide of the police is also floating on the record,” he stated in his order of Jan 3. The order doesn’t elaborate anything in this regard except carrying directions that the “police record be returned to the concerned quarters and this file be consigned to record room”.

Once the Supreme Court took suo moto notice, it voiced serious concerns at the loopholes in the ‘compromise’ reached under questionable circumstances, hasty handover of the child maid and the suspicious role of the counsel for her guardians.

On January 11, it transpired before the top court that the lawyer who allegedly penned affidavits granting pardon ‘in the name of God’ to the judge and his wife was a relative of the suspects.

Tayyaba’s father, Muhammad Azam confessed before the apex court that he was unaware of any ‘compromise’ with the judge and his wife, was ‘illiterate’ and was assured by his lawyer that the family would get the child’s custody only after they ‘affixed a thumb impression’ on the affidavits.

Since then, the court has overruled the pardon granted to the suspects, expressed displeasure over the conduct of the judges and the lawyer, and picked flaws in the police investigation report.

Legal expert Advocate Asad Jamal has called for an inquiry into the judges’ conduct and disciplinary proceedings against them. He has also called for holding the concerned prosecutors accountable for their absence on January 3. Jamal said that bail should have been granted without haste in a judicious manner. He added that terming the police investigation ‘malafide’ without a good reason was tantamount to “sending a clear signal to the police that the judiciary won’t like action against one of their own.”

Eminent lawyer Asma Jahangir told the top court on January 25 that the case has proved how the judge was protected by the judicial officers of the lower courts. The bench had noted the argument and remarked that they could not ignore this aspect of the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2017.

COMMENTS (1)

illpopo | 7 years ago | Reply Child abduction case should be filed against lawyer "Raja Zahoorul Hassan"
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