News Desk
The Judicial Service Commission pulled Mohamed Raghib off the Civil Court bench roster, calling an unscheduled meeting just hours before his swearing-in was set to take place.
Raghib was one of three lawyers selected from a field of 42 applicants who applied back in June. The other two will take their oaths as planned on Thursday morning, while Raghib’s seat remains open after the commission received a batch of late complaints regarding his conduct and unanimously voted to cancel his appointment. Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla and Attorney General Ahmed Usham did not attend the vote.
The decision brings a sudden halt to what would have been Raghib’s return to the bench seven years after the watchdog removed him from office.
Raghib, who is from GDh. Gadhdhoo, previously served as chief magistrate of the Kaafu Atoll judicial sector following an earlier stint on his home island. The JSC sacked him in 2017 after an inquiry into multiple misconduct allegations, including sexual harassment, tampering with case rulings, workplace discrimination, and participating in partisan politics while on the bench.
After leaving the court, Raghib threw himself into PPM’s street-level campaigns during the MDP administration, frequently offering pro-bono defense for opposition activists detained during the “India Out” protests. He later fell out with party leadership, openly complaining that former President Abdulla Yameen never acknowledged the work he put in.
When President Mohamed Muizzu took office, Raghib was brought into the administration and cycled through a series of short-lived political posts before landing as a Deputy Minister at the Environment Ministry. That tenure ended abruptly earlier this year when Muizzu fired him for taking the state to court over the decision to grant city status to neighboring GDh. Thinadhoo.
Raghib applied for the Civil Court vacancies after his dismissal from the ministry. He cleared the commission’s vetting and interview rounds, with invitations already sent out for Thursday’s oath-taking before the JSC reversed course.
