KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Wednesday convicted the investigating officer (IO) of a vehicle theft case and sentenced him to seven-day imprisonment for failing to obey a court order regarding release of the vehicle to its owner.

On Feb 25, Judicial Magistrate (South) Shahzad Khowaja ordered the IO, Sub-Inspector Ali Madad, to release the vehicle of a citizen stolen in 2025 and recovered later by the Clifton police station.

However, the IO did not hand over the vehicle to the owner and disobeyed the court’s order. When the court was informed, the magistrate issued a show-cause notice to the IO, directing him to submit his response.

In its detailed order issued on Wednesday, the magistrate noted that the IO failed to satisfy the court regarding his failure to comply with the directives. When the court directed him to produce the vehicle, he failed to provide any assurance, the order said.

“In view of the persistent failure of the investigation officer without any reasonable excuse under Section 485 of the CrPC, he is committed to jail custody of Central Prison Karachi for 7 days (till 11.03.2026),” the court ruled.

In the conviction warrant, the court directed the jail superintendent to release him after completion of the sentence in accordance with jail procedures.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2026