ISLAMABAD, March 19: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the government’s chief law officer to assist in the matter involving police manhandling of “suspended” Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.
“The matter concerns the manhandling of a sitting chief justice and involves prestige, dignity and honour of the office of the chief justice,” Acting Chief Justice Javed Iqbal observed while leading a three-member bench hearing the case.
On Tuesday last, the Islamabad police had roughed up the chief justice when he declined to travel in an official car and tried to walk towards the Supreme Court to attend the proceedings of the Supreme Judicial Council. Reportedly, his wife and daughters were also manhandled by policemen.
Taking a serious notice of the matter, the acting CJ had summoned Islamabad’s inspector-general of police Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmad, deputy inspector-general Shahid Nadeem Baloch, senior superintendent of police Zafar Iqbal Awan and deputy superintendent of police, I-9 circle, Jamil Hashmi, for Monday.
“We are giving notice to Attorney-General Makhdoom Ali Khan for Tuesday to prevent such unfortunate incident in future,” the acting CJ observed.
“Serious allegations have been levelled against police,” he observed and asked why investigations had not been conducted by the capital police so far.
At the outset, Islamabad IGP Ahmad denied that police had manhandled the chief justice and requested the court to look into the manner in which the matter had been reported in the press.
However, the bench said the manner in which a DSP had been shown in the press mistreating the chief justice hardly needed any explanation.
The ACJ also questioned the capability of the Islamabad police to meet such eventualities and said it had to look into whether mishandling of the chief justice had taken place, was it deliberate and if deliberate then who was responsible.
“Our concern is that the police investigations should be held in a fair and transparent manner,” the ACJ observed. Police should not be a judge and a complainant at the same time, the ACJ said.
“I can ask the interior ministry to conduct the inquiry,” the IG replied.
He said he had already ordered an inquiry headed by the DIG. But the ACJ said an inquiry at this level would not serve the purpose because the DIG was too small a forum.
Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, a member of the bench, asked the IG whether he had seen press clippings of manhandling of the CJ.
The IG, however, avoided commenting but defended his officer, saying it was not correct that the DSP was handling the issue. These were allegations and observations of the press and they should also be made part of the inquiry.
He said his presence at the scene was necessary since the chief justice along with his wife was walking, instead of riding in a car.
“The court will not take action against little fries of police, rather it will see who the commanding authority was,” the ACJ made it clear.
Meanwhile, the ACJ has also taken suo motu notice on an application of the Punjab Union of Journalists inviting attention of the ACJ that journalists received serious injuries on Saturday while reporting a lawyers’ convention in the Lahore High Court.
Notices have been served on the provincial police officer, capital city police officer of Lahore, Punjab’s secretary for information, home department and the chief secretary of Punjab for Tuesday.
