ISLAMABAD, Oct 1: Three top officials of the federal capital’s administration were suspended on Monday by the interior ministry on orders of the apex court, which held them responsible for the use of force by law-enforcement agencies against lawyers, journalists and other civil society representatives on September 29.
Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah informed the Supreme Court that Deputy Commissioner Chaudhry Mohammad Ali, Inspector General of Police Moravet Ali Shah and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dr Naeem Khan had been suspended and a notification to this effect had been issued.
The bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokar and Justice Raja Fayyaz, also issued contempt notices to the Deputy Commissioner and the IG as well as Magistrate Irfan Ahmad, who have been asked to explain why they should not be punished for contempt of court for firing teargas shells inside the Supreme Court premises.
“It was not possible for the juniors to take action without instructions from top officials,” the Chief Justice remarked after visuals provided by an independent electronic media were screened in the room. The court had taken suo motu notice of the police brutality that left over 70 lawyers, journalists and civil society members injured in Saturday’s violence.
Punjab Advocate General Aftab Iqbal, Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah and SSP Doctor Naeem Khan were present in the court.
The court was informed that the IGP was having some problem with his eyes as he too had been affected by the teargas. The court also took notice of the use of highly injurious gas shells fired on the day and directed the authorities to provide details about the specification of the shells and documents pertaining to their import.
The court observed that the mere suspension of three officials was not enough. It said the new administration should hold an inquiry into the matter without any fear or favour. The court asked: “Why no cases have been registered against those who misused their powers?”
The interior secretary informed the court that a high-powered committee had been formed. The Chief Justice, however, said the setting up of committees had never yielded results and proved to be an exercise in futility.
The court asked the authorities to explain how section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act could have been invoked to register FIRs against lawyers and directed the judge of the anti-terrorist court, Rawalpindi, to dispose of bail applications filed by the lawyers booked under section 7 of the Anti-Terrorist Act by Monday evening. All those booked under terrorism charges were later released on personal bail bonds.
The court also took note of the heavy deployment of security men in plain clothes on the day and observed that it was the duty of police in uniform to maintain law and order, and not of people in plain clothes who can commit heinous crimes without fear of being identified.
The court directed the interior secretary to furnish data of those who were deployed in plainclothes within three days to the registrar of the Supreme Court along with their photographs so that they could be matched with video clips and photographs published in newspapers.
The court also observed that the Islamabad administration, instead of acting on security plans, indulged in clashes with unarmed lawyers and media persons and beat them up mercilessly.
It said as a result of the mishandling, a number of lawyers and media persons sustained serious injuries, but “astonishingly, some of the seriously injured were treated as prisoners and sent to the Adiala Jail”.
The court said the video clips seen by it clearly showed that lawyers and journalists had been treated as enemies.
The chief justice said the nation was passing through a difficult time that required patience and a proper response from all citizens, including lawyers and media, and they should show tolerance and responsibility.
The court asked lawyer Khalid Anwar to assist the government in preparation of a code of conduct for handling protests.
A senior lawyer, Ali Ahmad Kurd, objected to Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokar’s presence on the bench. Mr Kurd, who also became a victim of police brutality and was taken by law-enforcement agencies to some unknown location, did not talk at all about his misery. He said he did not recognise Faqir Mohammad Khokhar as a judge after the 6-3 judgment dismissing petitions challenging Gen Musharraf’s candidature as president.
The chief justice later asked the lawyers to show patience and sense of responsibility. “They must respect the court, its judgments and judges, and avoid raising objections against their decisions.”
The court also asked media to discharge its duty with full responsibility and observed that they should avoid criticising any institution.
The court asked injured lawyers and journalists to file affidavits before the registrar of the supreme court. It directed police investigating the cases to look into the matter freely without influence of the court and adjourned the hearing till Oct 23.
The medical superintendents of PIMS and Polyclinic Hospitals presented the details of those who had been injured. The court admonished them for discharging the injured persons without proper treatment and tampering with the record of the injured lawyers and journalists and directed them to provide complete treatment to the injured persons and re-admit them in the hospitals besides ordering the federal government to bear all expenses to be incurred on their treatment.
The court grilled Medical Superintendent Polyclinic Hospital Javed Chaudhry for misleading the court that a journalist, Irfan Malik, had received minor bruises while, in fact, his hand had to be plastered as it had been fractured.
A journalist, Mazhar Sheikh, who was readmitted to the PIMS on court orders, informed the court that some junior doctors misbehaved with him and later the executive director, PIMS, Dr Fazle Hadi, said he has been sent by the Supreme Court and should be sent back there for ‘admission’.
The court summoned Dr Hadi again and reprimanded him for his remarks. Dr Hadi, however, denied saying this and said he held courts in high esteem. The court ordered him to take the patient under his care.
The court observed that there was no reason for the injured journalist to tell a lie as he had gone to hospital for treatment.
The court said it was perplexing as to why journalists were being targeted. “It seems all this was pre-planned. The court also noted that the police used batons in a manner that they hit the heads of the protesters and asked SSP Naeem Khan if it was done under some special instructions from somewhere. The SSP said it was not so. He said the police tried to handle the situation in a peaceful manner but the lawyers tried to enter the Election Commission when the prime minister was inside, forcing it to resort to baton charging and tear-gassing.
