July 17, 2007	Tuesday	Rajab 01, 1428

ISLAMABAD, July 16: The capital police have sought legal opinion on the possibility of registering a case against the medico legal staff of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), who performed the first autopsy of Kafila Siddiqui, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, sources told Dawn on Monday.

The first post-mortem failed to establish the cause of Ms Siddiqui’s death, besides a skull fracture and injuries to her forehead were also overlooked. But the second autopsy carried out by a medical board in Karachi revealed that her skull was fractured and she was also subjected to torture.

The sources said there were considerable chances that a case would be registered against the Pims medico legal staff on the charges criminal negligence or hiding evidence.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Zafar Iqbal, when contacted, said that investigators were considering the legal aspects of the case, and whosoever had intentionally or with mala fide intentions committed the mistake would be treated according to the law.

He said the deputy superintendent of police legal was working on the matter.

Mr Iqbal said the report would be submitted in the court of law on Wednesday and further action would be taken on the directions of the judge. The future moves can include addition of any new section in the FIR already registered against former Minister of State for Communications Mohammad Shahid Jamil Qureshi, he added.