ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee on Thursday urged the government to remove from service the civil judge whose wife is accused of torturing an underage maid.

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights expressed concerns over alleged torture on the maid by the wife of the civil judge, urging the Ministry of Law and Justice to initiate the process to terminate the service of the civil judge.

Held with MNA Dr Mehreen Razzaq Bhutto in the chair, the committee meeting was briefed by the chairperson of National Commission on the Rights of Child (NCRC) about the incident.

Initially, the first information report (FIR) was weak however on the basis of the medico-legal report, more sections were added to it to strengthen the case.

An officer of the ICT police endorsed the statement of the chairperson NCRC.

The chairperson of the standing committee while referring to Articles No 3, 11, 23, 25-A, 35 and 37 (a) of the Constitution held that the incident was a clear violation of human rights and there was a need to give maximum punishment to the responsible persons.

She urged the Ministry of Law and Justice to play its role as per Judicial Code of Conduct, for punitive actions against the civil judge and submit a report to the committee.

The committee however directed the police to undertake an impartial inquiry, finalise the report and submit it to the committee at the earliest.

The committee directed the Ministry of Human Rights to give its input on the draft policy, prepared by Child Rights Commission and submit the document to the committee in the next meeting to be held on August 7.

The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of the secretary Ministry of Law and Justice from the meeting and held that such non-serious and unprofessional attitude was tantamount to breach of the privileges of the committee as well as parliament.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2023