Chief Magistrate Raghib resigns following motion for dismissal

Chief Magistrate of Kaafu Judicial Constituency Mohamed Raghib resigned on Thursday, following Judicial Service Commission (JSC)'s decision to submit a motion to the parliament requesting for Raghib's dismissal.

JSC suspended Raghib, who served in the judiciary for 27 years, in July over a case under investigation by the judicial watchdog. The commission's investigative committee decided on forwarding the case to parliament for Raghib's dismissal after the conclusion of this probe.

In Raghib's letter of resignation addressed to JSC's President Abdulla Areef, the magistrate accused JSC of investigating his case unjustly and cruelly, from a biased point of view.

In addition, Raghib stated that the investigative committee cut him off while he was attempting to give detailed answers to their questions. In the letter, Raghib further disclosed that JSC's Vice President Masthoor Husnee argued with him as well.

According to Raghib, the evidence used against him were false statements given by employees who had personal issues with him for giving warnings over their poor performance at work.

"[They] decided to dismiss me from my position without taking a look at the 16-page statement I submitted proving that the evidence was falsified", the letter read.

In addition, Raghib's letter claimed that current JSC members arrived at their positions by selling a certain political party's logo and colours, adding that he did not believe he will receive justice, as the majority of the parliament, given the power of dismissing judges, were in the hands of one party.

While JSC decided to forward Raghib's case to the parliament, the commission had also decided on filing a case at Maldives Police Service over some criminal activity uncovered during the probe into the magistrate.

However, JSC did not reveal what the criminal activities were.

According to the Constitution, a judge can only be dismissed by the parliament based on a motion put forward by the Judicial Service Commission. Supreme Court's former Judge Abdulla Didi and Thinadhoo Court's former Magistrate Ibrahim Rasheed were both dismissed via this procedure.