April 20, 2006	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 21, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, April 19: The Supreme Court on Wednesday reprimanded Inspector General of Prisons, Punjab, for not suspending Superintendent Multan Jail, where a prison had died in custody.

“When this officer is nominated in the inquiry then why he is still in uniform,” the bench inquired from IG Prisons Sarfaraz Mufti adding, “In uniform, the officer can influence inquiry.”

This man should have been brought before the court in plain clothes, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said while noticing that Superintendent Ziaullah was in police uniform. “Perhaps, the IG prisons has no respect for the court orders,” the chief justice observed.

The three-member bench, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar and Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad, also took exception to the Punjab government’s disrespect to the apex court for entrusting inquiry to DIG Zafar Ahmed Qureshi to probe the murder of Sardar Ali in the Multan jail.

Referring to DIG Qureshi, the chief justice appreciated his independent findings in Sonia Naz rape case and observed that he was impressed with his report. However, he was made Officer on Special Duty (OSD) by the Punjab government soon after his report in the case.

Advocate-General Punjab Chaudhry Aftab Iqbal apologised to the court for failure to implement its orders and explained that due to some misunderstanding the inquiry could not be marked to DIG Qureshi.

The court, however, refused to accept the excuse and observed that the provincial administration could not dare sit over the court orders.

At the last hearing the bench had ordered the provincial government to appoint DIG Qureshi as investigating officer in the case and allowed him to associate two officers of his choice to probe the murder of the prisoner.

At that time the court was also told that the bacteriologist had stated in his report that he was not provided with meaningful samples to give his opinion in the case. Based on the report of the bacteriologist and chemical examiner, the medical board constituted under the supervision of Medical Superintendent District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ), Multan, failed to determine the cause of death.

On September 15 last a five-member bench of the Supreme Court had ordered the release of Sardar Ali, who was serving life sentence. However, the superintendent of the jail did not comply with the orders on the pretext of seeking a clarification from the chief justice. While the process was still inconclusive, Sardar Ali died in mysterious circumstances.

In the preliminary enquiry, the home secretary had held that Sardar Ali had died an unnatural death, as blood was coming out of his mouth, rectum and arm.

On Wednesday, Chaudhry Aftab Iqbal told the court that the reports of pathologists and bacteriologist had been received and respective forensic experts believed that it was too difficult to reach the actual cause of death, as the body had badly decomposed.

Chaudhry Aftab was ordered to entrust the case to DIG Zafar Qureshi. The court directed DIG Zafar to submit his findings to the court by May 5.