ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday expressed strong displeasure over the absence of the investigating officer and the police’s failure to produce the case record during the hearing of bail petitions filed by lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha in a protest-related case.
ATC Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain summoned the DSP and Judicial Complex’s security head after being told that the IO was out of town.
At the outset of the hearing, the judge questioned DSP Naeem Yousuf about IO’s whereabouts and the case record, directing him to provide documentary evidence instead of making verbal assertions.
The DSP told the court that the IO was in Gilgit-Baltistan and produced a printout of a WhatsApp message in support of his claim. The judge refused to accept the printout and ordered the official to produce an original document.
DSP Yousuf then said the IO’s mobile phone was switched off and that it could take 10 to 15 days to establish contact with him.
The judge warned that if the required record was not produced, he could send both the DSP and SP to jail for six months. “You ought to be ashamed; you people have turned this into a display of high-handedness,” the judge remarked, questioning the manner in which the investigation was handled.
At one point, the court ordered handcuffs to be brought into the courtroom and summoned the security head.
The judge warned the DSP could be arrested if he failed to provide accurate information.
Defence counsel Riasat Ali Azad argued the court had already rejected the request for Ms Mazari and Mr Chattha’s physical remand and that there was no justification for delaying the bail proceedings just due to IO’s unavailability.
Advocate Zafar Khokhar objected to the IO taking the record away with him.
The judge later adjourned the hearing until Oct 13.
Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2026
