June 20, 2006	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 23, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, June 19: The Supreme Court on Monday stripped of judicial powers of an anti-terrorism court (ATC) Faisalabad judge, Mohammad Yusuf Aujla, and initiated an inquiry against him for misconduct.

A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar and Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad also rejected an unconditional apology offered by the judge and referred his case to the Lahore High Court (LHC) for disciplinary action within six weeks.

“You have committed judicial misconduct and liable to be dismissed from service for violating the orders of the apex court,” CJ observed and adjourned the matter till finalization of the judicial inquiry.

The ATC judge would not be able to exercise his judicial powers till disposal of high court’s inquiry.

The judge had defied apex court’s order by staying the execution of four convicts in Hudood case without ascertaining whether the superior courts had issued any stay order or not. Earlier, the apex court had rejected the appeals and review petitions of the convicts.

Meanwhile the same bench also ordered DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) test and medical examination to settle claims of two mothers over a six months old baby boy. The dispute involves motherhood claim by two wives of the same husband over an infant.

The bench was hearing a complaint of Ms Noor Taj who had sought court’s intervention for the recovery and custody of her six-month baby boy from her husband Rana Altaf, of Lahore.

In its interim order, the apex court gave the custody of the minor to Noor Taj and ordered a trial court to conduct DNA test and constitute a board for the medical examination of first wife Tayyaba by July 14 to ascertain whether she is capable of giving birth to a child.

Noor Taj had accused her husband Altaf and her first wife Tayyaba of kidnapping the infant whom she had given birth six months ago. Counsel of the couple, Dr Abdul Basit told the bench that the matter was pending in a civil court and a DNA test had already been ordered.

Meanwhile, the additional advocate General Punjab provided a birth certificate of the Secretary Union Council, which had endorsed that Noor Taj was the real mother of the infant.