No room for ‘misconduct’: Civil judge suspended over involvement in jirga

Judicial officer took part in a jirga held to decide the fate of a couple.

KARACHI:

A senior civil judge was suspended by Sindh High Court Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar for participating in an illegal court which settled a couple’s murder case last month.

“The SHC chief justice has suspended Mr Saleem Qambrani, senior civil judge (report to High Court), with immediate effect on the ground of ‘misconduct’,” read an official notification issued by the information department, adding that he will continue to receive his pay and allowances as admissible under the rules during his suspension.

Judicial sources told The Express Tribune that CJ Baqar had taken notice of the media reports regarding Qambrani’s involvement in the recent jirga held at the Circuit House Hyderabad on January 30. Former legislator Mohammad Khan Junejo, son of late Pakistan Peoples Party leader Shahnawaz Junejo, had reportedly presided over the jirga at the Circuit House Hyderabad on January 30.



Ishtiaq Sheikh and Samia Detho (resident of Mori Mangar village of Tando Hyder area) had married on their free will on Nov 18, 2011 and settled in Karachi after leaving the village on Oct 10, 2011. Samia’s father, Ahmed Detho, traced them and persuaded them to accompany him to the village as his family had accepted their marriage.

The couple was brought to Hyderabad on August 23, 2012 and a few days later they were found murdered. A FIR was registered under Sections 302, 364, 201, 109, 34, 120-B of the Pakistan Penal Code and 6/7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Junejo had reportedly conducted proceedings and later Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz’s vice-chairperson Dr Niaz Kalani, who represented the deceased man’s family, announced the decree. According to the jirga’s verdict, the couple’s unborn baby was ‘illegitimate’. Senior civil judge, Saleem Qambrani, was accused of influencing police investigation and for tracing the phone call which led to the couple.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2014.