PTI files complaint against female judge with IHC’s MIT

Gill’s brother claims Additional and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry closely affiliated with ruling party

ISLAMABAD:

Despite its chairman Imran Khan receiving a show-cause notice, the PTI on Thursday filed a complaint for initiating misconduct proceedings against Additional and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry, who had recently handed over party leader Dr Shahbaz Gill to the custody of the Islamabad police for two days.

Gill, through his brother Muhammad Yaseen Gill, has filed a complaint before a member inspection team (MIT) of the Islamabad High Court.

“The aggrieved applicant/accused/detenue Muhammad Shahbaz Shabeer Gill, being in custody, is unable to move the instant application/complaint against the delinquent judicial officer, in person, therefore, on his instructions, it is being lodged by his real brother Muhammad Yaseen with an intention that after his release on bail, he himself will pursue this matter before this honorable forum", read the complaint.

In the complaint, it has been alleged that judge Zeba was closely affiliated with the ruling party and her husband was an ex-MPA of the PPP as well as its ticket holder.

It added that these facts could also recieve endorsements from different social media posts by the husband of  judge Zeba and therefore order and judgment was passed under the influence by violating the basic principle of law. The complaint further read that the judge was least bothered to protect the rights of the petitioner's brother -- who was in judicial custody -- guaranteed under the law and Constitution of Pakistan.

The medical report of Adiala jail also endorsed the physical and mental torture, it read.

"The petitioner’s brother is a political leader of the PTI whereas Additional District Judge Zeba Chaudhry’s husband Mujtaba Sherazi is associated with [its] opponent party PPP,” the complaint stated.

“Through his social media posts, [a] number of time[s] negative and direct comments about the matter of [the] petitioner’s brother [were made]. Therefore it was the primary duty of  Additional District Judge Zeba Chaudhry, under the norms and procedure that she should refused to hear case of the petitioner’s brother and disassociate from court proceedings, but she without any reason passed the order in [a] hurried manner,” it added.

The complaint also stated that while deciding the question of physical remand of the accused, the judge had showed her ignorance of law by totally disregarding the provisions of Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The section repeatedly demands the presence of the accused forwarded by the police.

However, the complaint added that at the same time, the judge had failed to take the notice of the relevant provisions on the subject of Criminal Revision i.e. sections 435, 439 and 439-A of the CrPC. “[This] shows that the learned ASJ [additional and sessions judge] lacks the knowledge of even fundamental provisions of the criminal law on the subject,” the complaint stated.

“The malafide as well as negligence committed by the learned ASJ is floating on the surface of record, since transpired by her conduct that despite her attention drawn by the learned counsel for the accused making request for directing physical presence of the accused in the court as a legal requirement and taking the notice of third degree physical torture to him by the police along with observing all the settled principles for [the] granting of physical remand as laid down in Ghulam Sarwar’s case, 1984 P.Crl.L.J. 2588 but the learned ASJ in a hasty manner turned down the said request and passed the said physical remand order totally in derogation of the legal provisions, the judicial norms and the settled principles of law which amounts to a gross misconduct since in no manner covered under the umbrella of good faith or indemnity provided for a judicial officer acting in good faith, therefore, she is liable to face the consequences of the same under the rules, on administrative side,” it further read.

"While passing the physical remand order dated 17-08-2022 in the absence of the accused/detenue, the learned ASJ had acted in league with the investigating agency to destroy the evidence of their crime of inflicting third degree physical torture upon the accused for the purpose of screening out the offenders from the charge of cognidable offences of hurt under the Chapter XVI of CrPC read with Article 156(d) of Police Order, 2002 which at least amounts to a misconduct on the part of a judicial officer culpable under the E&D Rules, 1999 through an administrative action,” it added.

“It is stated that at the moment, the aggrieved applicant/accused/detenue Muhammad Shahbaz Shabeer Gill, being in custody, is unable to move the instant application/complaint against the delinquent judicial officer, in person, therefore, on his instructions, it is being lodged by his real brother Muhammad Yaseen with an intention that after his release on bail, he himself will pursue this matter before this honourable forum,” the complaint further read.

Separately, a petition was moved in the IHC for summoning PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, Federal Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb and Ata Tarar to initiate contempt proceedings against them.

The petition was filed through Advocate Ali Ijaz Buttar.