LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Qasim Khan on Thursday ordered the police to conduct forensic examination of five randomly selected police stations in the provincial metropolis.

He was hearing a bail petition of a woman booked in a drug case.

The petitioner’s counsel pleaded that police had registered a ‘fabricated’ case of recovery of 2kg hashish from his client.

Chief Justice Khan observed that the police paralyzed the judicial system as every other day three to four cases of police highhandedness surfaced before his court.

Referring to the arrest of the key suspect, Abid Malhi, in Sialkot motorway gang-rape incident, the chief justice noted that the father of the suspect claimed that he himself handed over his son to the police. However, he added, the police high ups were lauding and hailing the police team formed to arrest the suspect and also announced reward for them only to show its efficiency.

Expressing his concern over illegal detentions of the citizens, Chief Justice Khan observed that when a court bailiff raided a police station, the official tampered with the daily report registers showing arrests in back dates.

“Give me five police stations, all their wrongdoings will surface with forensic examination,” the chief justice asked the DIG (legal), present in the court.

The CJ remarked that the court would not spare the IGP if their ill intentions were proved. He also ordered the release of the petitioner on bail.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2020