Supreme Court annuls Juvenile Court

The Supreme Court has annulled the letter sent by Juvenile Court to the Speaker of Parliament Abdullah Shahid, requesting a meeting with him to discuss the issue of health insurance for judges of Juvenile Court.

The order of mandamus issued by the Supreme Court tonight states that it is the responsibility of the Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) to deal with administrative issues related to the judicial sector.

The Supreme Court order detailed that it is the responsibility of the DJA to cooperate with the relevant authorities to standardise insurance provided to judges their families.

The Supreme Court annulled Juvenile Court’s notifications included in the letter based on the fact that the notifications were outside the legal responsibilities of the Juvenile Court.

Juvenile Court had requested Parliament Speaker Shahid to attend the Court for a meeting at 1:30pm today. This request was refused by Shahid.

The letter sent by Shahid to Juvenile Court to explain his refusal to attend the meeting stated that it is the responsibility of DJA, and not the Juvenile Court, to organise medical insurance for judges.

Shahid said in his letter that the Parliament should not have to discuss this issue with Juvenile Court; thus, he would not attend the meeting.

Juvenile Court has two judges, namely Judge Ahmed Shakeel and Judge Mohamed Naeem.

As no Chief Judge has been appointed to the Court by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the Acting Chief Judge of Juvenile Court is Judge Mohamed Naeem.