GUJRAT: The district and sessions judge of Mandi Bahauddin on Friday convicted Deputy Commissioner (DC) Tariq Basra and Assistant Commissioner (AC) Imtiaz Ali Baig in a contempt of court case, awarded them three-month imprisonment each and issued orders for sending them to jail.

Mandi Bahauddin police arrested the DC and the AC from the courtroom after the DPO, who was also present in the court, was given orders by D&SJ Abdul Jabbar to arrest them.

Moreover, the judge also ordered the police to shift the convicts to Gujrat District Jail, instead of sending them to the Mandi Bahauddin Jail.

A citizen, Muhammad Asim, had filed a case in the court of District and Sessions Judge Abdul Jabbar, who also heads the district consumer court, pleading that he had been allotted an official residence in the Wapda Colony but the local administration had issued another allottment letter of the said house to a schoolteacher, Hassan Ali. Later, the litigation clerk, Rana Mehboob Ali, of the local administration forcibly ousted him from the house, violating his privacy.

The judge issued notices to the DC and AC to appear before the court; however, they sent the litigation clerk to the court who committed grave misconduct and contempt by misbehaving with the judge. The clerk challenged the authority of the court as well. At this, the court convicted him.

However, the DC personally made a phone call to the judge, asking him to set the litigation clerk free whereas the AC also appeared in the court and allegedly misbehaved with the judge. The judge issued notices to both DC and AC under Section 228 of the Pakistan Penal Code to appear and personally answer as to why contempt proceedings should not initiated against them.

Both the officers appeared in the court on Friday but they could not satisfy the judge. At this, the judge awarded three months imprisonment to both the officers and sent them to Gujrat District Jail.

During the proceedings, the president of the Mandi Bahauddin District Bar Association, who was representing the DC, also exchanged harsh words with the judge. However, the judge also warned him of initiating contempt proceedings against him but did not do so.

The official sources said both the district administration officers were detained in the DC house.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2021