Thinadhoo magistrate to be disbarred over verbal abuse against woman

G. Dh. Thinadhoo Court magistrate Ibrahim Rasheed violated code of ethics by verbally abusing a woman and accusing her of an extramarital affair at a public location, reads Judicial Service Commission (JSC)’s report on its decision to push for the disbarment of the magistrate.

A case was filed with JSC over the incident in 2013.

JSC had opened an investigation following the complaint, and placed Ibrahim Rasheed under suspension pending the outcome of its investigation into the case.

The commission completed the investigation – which had remained stymied for six years – and filed a petition for his disbarment last Monday.

JSC’s report on the magistrate was read at the Parliament this Tuesday morning.

JSC’s report reads that the case was filed by a person by the name of Mohamed Latheef, who accused the magistrate of verbally abusing and using vulgar language against a woman at a public location.

He accused the magistrate of going as far as accusing the woman of conceiving a child out of wedlock and aborting the fetus.

The report details the code of ethics expected of a magistrate or judge. And concluded that the incident reported to the commission in 2013 violated the code of ethics.

This marks the first time for a petition for disbarment to be filed with the Parliament against a magistrate or judge based on an ethical violation.

A disbarment requires a majority vote of at least two-thirds of the Parliament.

In a separate incident, Ibrahim Rasheed was also arrested with narcotics on March 28, 2016. Though initially placed under State custody, Ibrahim Shareef was later released following an order by the High Court.