Magistrates warned for violating remand rules

Judicial officers told to be more careful when granting remand.

LAHORE: Two judicial magistrates who granted the police physical custody of a suspect after already sending him on judicial remand have been warned for their violation of judicial procedure.

District and Sessions Judge Mujahid Mustaqeem Ahmed conducted an inquiry and found that Magistrates Malik Asif Awan and Imran Yousaf of the Cantonment Courts had violated procedure and warned them to be more careful when granting physical remand requests.

In his order issued at the conclusion of the inquiry, the district judge also directed that the following paragraph be included in the magistrates yearly performance reviews, known as the annual confidential reports (ACRs): “The Reporting Officer is expected to counsel the officer being reported upon about his weak points and advise him how to improve. Adverse remarks should be recorded if the officer fails to improve despite counselling.” Both magistrates, in statements submitted to the inquiry officer, admitted they had made mistakes and sought forgiveness on the grounds that they were new to the job.

Yousaf vowed to be careful in the future. Awan said that he had mistakenly granted physical remand in part because of the high volume of work magistrates had to do.

The magistrates had violated judicial procedure by granting the police physical remand of a man accused of cheque fraud, even though his trial had begun and he was in judicial custody. The suspect, Muhammad Arshad, is accused of giving a Rs2.5 million cheque to singer Ataullah Esakhelvi that bounced.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2012.