ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was informed on Thursday that a woman officer of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had been removed from the job for assaulting two women Norwegian passengers at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport on April 15.

“A departmental inquiry of April 21 found Lady Constable Ghazala Shaheen of the FIA guilty and subsequently she was dismissed from the job,” said Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Sajid Ilyas Bhatti.

The chief justice had called a report from the concerned departments after taking suo motu notice of the scuffle which broke out at the airport after one of the Norwegian women of Pakistani origin invited attention towards the absence of tissue paper in the restrooms.

When the video clips berating the passengers went viral in the social media, the FIA issued a statement claiming that the passengers had misbehaved with an official, Noshila Bibi, at the immigration counter. The video clip showed two FIA women officers scuffling with the two passengers.

DAG says another official also found guilty, his case sent to the director general office for a decision

According to reports, Haseena Begum along with her two daughters was on her way to Norway when she complained to an FIA official about the lack of toilet paper in the restrooms. When Ms Haseena was rudely refused any help by the lady official, she slapped her. The passengers were then confronted and assaulted by the women officers. The video showed the FIA constables dragging the passengers as they cried for help. Later, both the parties filed cases against each other.

In a report submitted to a three-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Faisal Arab, the DAG said in addition to Ms Shaheen the inquiry headed by Director Administration FIA headquarters Ahmad Mukarram had found Inspector Nadeem Akhtar guilty. But his case has been referred to the director general office for a final decision whereas the case of constable Noshila Bibi was still pending.

The report said the FIA officials who filmed the passengers being assaulted were also being questioned for breaching privacy and violating the standard operating procedure under which phones were not allowed in the immigration area.

Ghazala Shaheen and Noshila Bibi have obtained bail before arrest from a local court as they were also accused in the case being probed by the airport police.

The police are investigating the issue from a criminal perspective as both the parties accused each other of hurting, the DAG explained.

The chief justice, however, ordered the authorities to submit a complete record of the departmental inquiry to ensure that it was not mere eyewash.

“We want complete cessation of such incidents in future,” the chief justice observed and directed the officers to also submit a complete record of the police investigation.

The FIA had conceded in a previous report that in their recorded statements both the officers admitted that the ruckus occurred when they lost their temper. The report included witness statements, a copy of the FIR, CCTV footage taken from the Civil Aviation Authority cameras as well as video clips from social and electronic media.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2017