Accepting a petition for regular hearing against the jirga system in the country, the Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to chief secretaries of all provinces, interior secretary and the attorney general for Pakistan and adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period. A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Tariq Parvez heard the petition filed by National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) Chairperson Anis Haroon for declaring the prevalent jirga system in the country “illegal, unlawful and against the canons of law, which must be prohibited and stopped immediately”.
The petitioner appearing in person before the bench revealed that 87 cases of jirgas were reported in Sindh. She also requested the court that all such actions taken, proceedings conducted and orders passed by any jirga, panchayat or similar bodies be declared null and void and appropriate actions be directed against all such culprits who had participated, aided, abetted in such illegal activities. She pleaded that respondents be directed to frame, amend and implement constitutional provisions and penal laws relating to illegal practices of jirga, panchayats. The petitioner contended that jirga/panchayats were against Article 8, which provided, “Any law, or any custom or usage having force of law, in so far as it is inconsistent with the rights conferred by this chapter, shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be void.”