ISLAMABAD: Taking notice of a settlement between a serving additional district and sessions judge (ADSJ) and the parent of a child maid who was allegedly abused by her employers, the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) directed the registrar of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to submit a detailed report on the matter within 24 hours.

After taking office on Dec 31 last year, CJP Saqib Nisar took suo motu notice of two cases on Wednesday, the first being the case of the 10 year old maid and the second of the sale of substandard cooking oil by the Utility Stores Corporation (USC).

Under former CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry suo motu notice began a household term due to their frequency, and in 2011 the International Commission of Jurists expressed concern over excessive suo motu notice by the superior juridicary. The retirement of Justice Chaudhry saw a sharp decrease in the exercise of judicial powers under Article 184(3) of the Constitution.

Suo motu notice also taken of sale of substandard cooking oil by Utility Stores Corporation

His successor, retired Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jilani confined suo motu notices to human rights cases, and issued a landmark justice on the rights of religious minorities in June 2014. The outgoing CJP, Anwar Zaheer Jamali, also took suo motu notice of a few cases on matter such as health and the environment.

According to an official announcement issued by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, CJP Nisar “has taken notice of torture on minor maid servant working in the house of Additional District & Sessions Judge, Islamabad, Raja Khurram Ali Khan. Notice was taken on media reports that the minor maid servant was allegedly beaten up brutally and she was given stoke with ladle and her hands were burnt and reportedly matter has been patched up and compromised”.

“Taking the cognizance of issue of alleged maltreatment and subsequently reported patch up and compromise, the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Pakistan has ordered to call a detailed report from Registrar, Islamabad High Court, Islamabad within 24 hours,” it stated.

News of alleged abuse and torture of Tayyaba, a 10 year old domestic employee, at the hands of the ADSJ and his family appeared on social media on Dec 28, 2016, and the ADSJ handed over custody of Tayyaba to the local police a day later.

Initially the child issued a statement which exonerated the ADSJ and his wife Maheen Zafar, but before Assistant Commissioner Nisha Ishtiaq, Tayyaba gave a statement accusing the judge and his wife of torturing her.

However, her parents and the judge settled on the matter within four days. On Jan 2, her parents and her paternal aunt filed affidavits before ADSJ Raja Asif Mehmood through their counsel, Raja Zahoor, when Ms Zafar filed for pre-arrest bail through her counsel Raja Rizwan.

Each of the three affidavits stated: “The case in question is inaccurate and was registered on the basis of baseless allegations. I personally investigated the matter. I reached a settlement with Raja Khurram Ali Khan and his wife Maheen Zafar with my free will and hence, forgive them unconditionally.”

“I have no objection if the court would accept the bail plea of Raja Khurram Ali Khan and his wife,” the affidavits said.

According to the documents, the child’s parents were neither willing nor interested in pursuing the case.

ADSJ Mehmood granted bail to his colleague’s spouse within 24 hours of the application being filed, while another ADSJ, Atta Rabbani, handed over custody of the child to her parents on the same day.

Sale of substandard cooking oil

CJP Nisar also took notice of the sale of substandard and adulterated cooking oil at the USC, on an application by Asif Nadeem Butt, the president of the Anjuman Tajran, Chowk Shaheedan, Mirpur, Azad Kashmir, filed before the SC’s human rights cell.

The applicant supported his allegations with reports by the National Institute of Health (NIH), which found that the cooking oil being sold did not meet the standards prescribed in the rules under the West Pakistan Pure Food Ordinance.

The CJP directed the office to fix the case on Jan 5, with notice to the industries and production secretary, USC managing director, NIH executive director and Asif Nadeem Butt to appear before the court.

Published in Dawn January 5th, 2017