[DAWN] Chief Justice of Pakistain Mian Saqib Nisar on Thursday deemed the jirga system "against fundamental human rights...which often include carefully measured allowances of
freedomat the convenience of the state...
" and recommended that its scope be limited to civil cases only.
The incumbent chief justice made those remarks while hearing a vani and sawara (marriage of underage girls against their will to settle murder and tribal disputes) case first taken up in 2005 during former chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry's tenure.
"The jirga system is against fundamental human rights," Justice Nisar said. "Jirga and panchayat (tribal councils) cannot have the right to vani girls and award capital punishments.
"Some people take their disputes to Jamaat-ud-Dawa
...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba...
, which then imposes heavy fines. This is illegal," the top judge warned.
The chief justice defined the limit of a jirga's legal powers and jurisdiction, saying: "Jirga and panchayat can only settle minor civil disputes. If they are approached in such cases then that's fine. However,
ars longa, vita brevis...
jirga rulings on criminal cases intrude on the legal jurisdiction of Pak courts."
Justice Nisar asked the advocate generals whether any legislation in this regard had been done at the provincial level.
The chief justice also urged the federal government to take remedial action, "draft a law and send it to parliament.
"Only parliament [then] can pass or reject such a law," he added.
An additional advocate general told the chief justice that "the Sindh High Court has already declared the jirga system as illegal."
At this, Justice Ijazul Ahsan added: "KP and Balochistan...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
have the most number of jirgas."