The Supreme Court does not have jurisdiction to impose the proper disciplinary action against civil registrars.
The Clerk of Court of the Shari'a Circuit Court wears two hats: first , as Clerk of Court of the Shari'a Circuit Court, and second , as Circuit Registrar within his territorial jurisdiction. Although the Constitution vests the Court with the power of administrative supervision over all courts and its personnel, this power must be taken with due regard to other prevailing laws. While civil registrars are members of the Judiciary as Clerk of Court of the Shari'a Circuit Court, a review of the complaint reveals that the complainant seeks to hold the registrar liable for registering the divorce and issuing the Certificate of Registration of D ivorce pursuant to his duties as Circuit Registrar of Muslim divorces . The test of jurisdiction is the nature of the offense and not the personality of the offender. The fact that the complaint charges Abdullah for "conduct unbecoming of a court employee" is of no moment. Well-settled is the rule that what controls is n...