maldives news – Page 920 – Minivan News

High Court overrules Civil Court injunction ordering JSC to halt appointment process

The High Court has overruled a Civil Court injunction issued on September 8 ordering the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to halt its appointment of judges to superior courts pending a ruling on the constitutionality of the process.

The temporary injunction was appealed by the JSC at the High Court, which ruled today that the Civil Court did not have jurisdiction to rule on the constitutionality of laws and regulations.

A group of lawyers had filed a case at the Civil Court contesting that regulations drafted by the JSC – containing evaluation criteria for selecting judges to superior courts – conflicted with both the constitution and the Judges Act. The lawyers requested the court abolish the regulations and declare the commission’s shortlist void.

The final interviews of 17 shortlisted candidates were due to place on September 10, two days before the injunction or staying order was delivered.

In its verdict today, the three-judge panel unanimously ruled that the Civil Court did not have jurisdiction to hear the case, citing article 143 of the constitution as well as provisions of the Judicature Act.

Briefing press after filing the case at Civil Court, lawyers Ali Hussein and Ismail Visham argued that the evaluation criteria formulated by the JSC unfairly favoured graduates of the College of Islamic Education (Kulliya).

Ali Hussein explained that under the regulations drafted by the JSC, a candidate with a masters degree and a graduate of Kulliya both receive 25 marks for educational qualification.

“We are saying this is not fair,” he said. “We especially note that the Faculty of Sharia and Law teaches shariah subjects to the same extent as Kulliya [Islamic College], but graduates of the faculty receive 20 marks while students from Kulliya receive 25 marks.”

Kulliya graduates also received higher marks than graduates of the Islamic University of Malaysia, he said.

The lawyers also claimed that two shortlisted candidates had close ties – as a spouse and a business partner – with two members of the commission, suggesting a clear conflict of interest as neither had recused themselves from voting in the JSC panel.

Moreover, the lawyers observed that the JSC criteria also conflicted with the academic rankings of the Maldives Qualification Authority (MQA), formerly the accreditation board, which places Kulliya certificates below those of overseas institutions.

Following today’s ruling, the lawyers are preparing to file their case at the High Court.

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Islamic Minister resigns from chairmanship of Adhaalath Party’s Religious Council

A day after he was asked by the Adhaalath Party to resign from the position of Islamic Minister, Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari has resigned from the chairmanship of the party’s Religious Council.

In a statement issued on the party’s official website, Adhaalath said that the resignation letter was today sent to the party’s President Sheikh Imran Abdulla.

The statement mentioned no further information about his resignation or what was in the letter.

The Adhaalath Party decided this week to break off its coalition agreement with the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), after the party’s consultation council voted 32 to 2 to approve a resolution to leave the government.

Dr Bari and current State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Hussein Rasheed Ahmed are both appointed to the government under the coalition agreement.

Along with Dr Bari, Sheikh Hussain Rasheed, who was the former President of the party, was also asked by Adhaalath to resign, but replied he was under no obligation to do so.

Former State Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, who earlier resigned from the government after expressing unhappiness with the current government’s religious policy, today told Minivan News that Dr Bari’s resignation was not an issue and that he would not comment on the matter.

Dr Bari and Sheikh Imran did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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Police bust cash card fraud network in joint operation with Sri Lanka

Police have busted a cash card fraud network reported to have stolen more than Rf700,000 (US$45,000) in expensive luxury items through the use of forged cards.

Police have arrested and identified five Maldivians in the network as Abdul Gany Abdul Majeed, 30, Thoriq Jameel, 30, Abdulla Akram, 22, Nadheem Masoodh 32, Ali Ahmed 28.

Speaking to the press today at police headquarters, Inspector Mohamed Riyaz said that Abdul Gany and Thoriq were arrested inside a casino in Sri Lanka in a joint operation conducted with the Lankan Police.

The two arrested in Sri Lanka had VIP cards for the casino they were arrested inside, noted Riyaz, adding that Gany was arrested in possession of Rf 4845, Sri Lankan Rupees 250,090 and US$5128, while Thoriq was arrested with 31,580 Srilankan Rupees and US$500 in his pockets.

Riyaz said Ali Ahmed was arrested at Male’ International Airport when he arrived in the Maldives from India on September 20.

He added that some of the credit and debit cards they had forged were made to resemble membership cards for certain venues and were hard to identify with a cursory glance.

Thorig, a shareholder of a famous movie shop ‘Club Infinity’, had membership cards of the shop which was actually a debit and credit card, Riyaz told the press.

Riyaz said some of the cards were made in the name of customers of banks in New Zealand, Canada, Australia, China and France – cards that appeared in the form of Maldivian cash cards but had the data of foreign banks’ customers encoded to them.

Police confiscated the electronic machines used to conduct the fraud, which the police said had the ability to obtain all information of any magnetic card and edit the information.

Police believe they might have used the cards and bought products from other countries as well, and said that they may have connection to a foreign network.

Police have been investigating the fraud network for six months, Riyaz noted.

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Man arrested with 83 packets of illegal drugs

Police have arrested a man with 83 packets of suspected narcotics in a special operation conducted on Addu City.

Police reported that the man arrested was 30 year old.

According to police 11 packets were found with him and the rest of the packets were found inside his room.

Gan police station is investigating the case, police reported.

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Villa air to commence domestic flights next Saturday

Media have reported that Villa Air will commence domestic flights to Male’-Maamigili and Maamigili-Male’ next Saturday.

Until next year, the flights will operate from Male’ to Maamigili in South Ari Atoll and Maamigli to Male’ and next year the company is planning to operate flights to Laamu Atoll and Haa Dhaalu Atoll.

Villa is owned by Jumhoory Party leader and MP ‘Burma’ Gasim Ibrahim and Maamigili is his motherland.

The airport in Maamigili was constructed by Villa.

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State Islamic Minister dismisses party’s demand he resign

State Islamic Minister and former President of the Adhaalath Party, Sheikh Hussain Rasheed Ahmed, has dismissed demands from the party’s council that he resign.

“You will know very well that I did not accept this position with the consent or with an approval of the consultation council, and therefore I do believe that there is a policy that allows the council to ask me to resign,” State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Hussain told the current President of the Adhaalath Sheikh Imran Abdulla, in a letter he send yesterday in response to the one demanding his resignation.

In the letter Sheikh Hussein said that normally when a coalition agreement is terminated, the President withdraws the positions shared with the party, and President himself would ask the members of that political party to resign from their positions.

“Every citizen has a national responsibility, and the only time he should stop fulfilling those responsibilities are when they are inconsistent with the principles of Islam,” he told the Adhaalath Party president in the letter.

He said that the greatest responsibility of a citizen was to serve the nation and to carry on the duties the he was assigned, adding that the work he was doing “fulfills both a religious and national duty.”

Following in the footsteps of now-opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and the Jumhooree Party (JP), Adhaalath is the third major party of the ‘Watan Edhey’ coalition – formed to rally against former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in the second round run-off of the 2008 presidential election – to leave the MDP-led coalition.

Sheikh Imran last night told Villa TV (VTV) that he had asked Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari and the State Islamic Minister to resign following the party’s split with the government.

Meanwhile, MDP Chairperson and MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik said the MDP regrets the Adhaalath Party’s decision to leave “like a husband regrets for a while when a stubborn wife leaves him.”

Islamic Minister Dr Bari has not said anything on the matter. The media today reported that he had departed to Haa Alifu Atoll with the President.

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Richard Branson, Edward Norton to speak at Soneva Fushi symposium

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson and American actor Edward Norton are among global environment leaders set to speak at the Six Senses Slow Life symposium at Soneva Fushi resort.

Apart from keynote speaker President Mohamed Nasheed, other speakers at the event include Jonathan Porrit from Forum for the Future and Tim Smit of the Eden Project.

The third annual environment conference is due to place from October 6 to 9 and will “bring together the leading minds in the fields of business, sustainability and environmental issues with globally-influential policy-makers and heads of state,” according to a press release from Six Senses.

“Sir Richard has been invited to talk about the challenge of a changing environment to his business portfolio. He will discuss the need for the Virgin empire to evolve rapidly to meet these changes and the steps he is already taking in his businesses and through organisations like the Carbon War Room,” it reads. “Sir Richard will be discussing alternative fuel sources and new technologies to power Virgin’s fleet of trains and aircrafts and how we need to adapt our buildings to meet the challenges of rising fossil fuel prices and to stem carbon emissions.

“Edward Norton will discuss the benefits that the tourism industry can bring to local eco-systems, wildlife and communities. He will take examples from large wildlife reserves that might otherwise be developed as mines or farms and the mutual benefit of supporting communities to protect their local environment.”

Sonu Shivdasani, chairman and CEO of Six Senses Resorts and Spas, meanwhile noted that the the tourism industry did not have a “road map to decarbonise.”

“It is our ambition to provide that roadmap for the industry and the SLOW LIFE Symposium is a key part of our mission to achieve that goal,” he said.

“In its third year, the Symposium continues to bring together the finest minds in the world to develop practical and inspiring solutions to how we can reduce our impact on our fragile ecosystems.”

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ACC investigating second Supreme Court Justice

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is investigating allegations that over Rf50,000 (US$3,200) of state funds was spent on plane tickets for Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed’s official visit to China in December last year.

Haveeru reported that according to the person who filed the complaint, Hameed also visited Sri Lanka and Malaysia both before and after his trip to China to attend a conference by the International Council of Jurists.

While there are currently flights between Male’ and Beijing, a return ticket costs Rf16,686 (US$1,080).

Last week, a similar complaint was lodged at the ACC alleging that Supreme Court Justice Abdulla Saeed visited his native Addu City on an official visit during a four-day government holiday for Eid.

The Supreme Court meanwhile informed Haveeru that the Finance Ministry approved expenses for the trip after the Supreme Court Justice was invited to participate in the conference.

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