Islamabad: The Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has dismissed an additional district & sessions judge (ADSJ) of Islamabad from service after he was found guilty of getting into a brawl with a man in a high security area of Islamabad.
The incident took place in September when the judge Malik Jahangir Awan and Khurram Pervaiz, husband of ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA) Abida Raja, had a heated argument that resulted in a physical fight over a trivial matter of overtaking each other’s vehicle.
The Islamabad High Court administration had ordered an inquiry and placed the judge under suspension.
On Monday, in the light of the inquiry report, the IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah dismissed the judge for “acting in a way that was not expected from a judicial officer.”
Inappropriate gesture
According to details, the incident took place on Sept 13, 2020 when both Jahangir Awan and Khurram Pervaiz were driving their cars on the Constitution Road of Islamabad.
Khurram Pervaiz, while overtaking Jahangir Awan’s car, made an inappropriate gesture after honking.
Moments after, Jahangir Awan stopped at a fuelling station where Pervaiz came along with his cousin Muhammad Bilal. They physically assaulted Jahangir Awan and injured him. To defend himself from the attackers, Jahangir Awan took out a gun and fired two shots in the air.
The next day, Secretariat Police registered a case on the complaint of the judge. However, the Islamabad High Court administration taking notice of the matter that the judge resorted to aerial firing while MPA’s husband and his cousin were unarmed, placed him under suspension and ordered an inquiry.
Already facing disciplinary proceedings
Chief Justice of the IHC Athar Minallah has ordered dismissal of the judge noting disciplinary proceedings were already pending against Jahangir Awan in another matter and the District and the Sessions Judge (West) of Islamabad had placed him under suspension. The judge (Jahangir Awan) was also conveyed that his conduct was being observed, noted the Chief Justice in his order.
In the order, Justice Athar Minallah has discussed in detail how the said judge Jahangir Awan showed little regard for the institution he was representing. Even outside the courtroom, you are a judge and enjoy people’s trust, wrote the chief justice in his order.
“An independent, impartial and competent judiciary, which commands the respect and confidence of the people, guarantees the enforcement of rights. Justice must not only be done but it must also be seen to be done. It is, therefore, inevitable that individuals who hold the office of a judge must at all times strive to demonstrably display conduct which enhances the confidence of the people,” says the order
First, the judge got an FIR (First Information Report) registered against the main accused, husband of a ruling party’s Member Punjab Assembly (MPA) and his cousin accusing them of assaulting him and later he entered into a compromise with the same.
“The judge could not give a reasonable explanation for entering into compromise with the main accused, particularly when he had raised serious allegations in the complaint submitted by him for the registration of a criminal case,” said the Chief Justice in the eight-page judgment.
