ISLAMABAD, Sept 25: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui on Saturday granted bail to senior Supreme Court lawyer Habib Wahabul Khairi and summoned a Rawalpindi magistrate , Nair Javed Rana, for Sept 29 to explain that why he remanded the accused in police custody in violation of the law.

In a five-page order after a suo motu hearing in his chamber, the chief justice also directed the Punjab Inspector General of Police to take action against Deputy Superintendent Police (DSP) Rana Shahid Pervez and Station House Officer (SHO) New Town police station within a fortnight for not performing their duties according to law. The action should be intimated to the court, the order said.

The order said the police should not have taken cognizance since the dispute under which Khairi was arrested, was of civil nature.

The chief justice had taken suo motu notice of the arrest of Khairi under Sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property of fraudulent deeds and disposition of property), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of Pakistan Penal Code.

The order said that the petition of Ali Akhtar Abbasi regarding the dispute about a quarter number 963-D Satellite Town, Rawalpindi, had been dismissed by the apex court on May, 2002 and that the allotment in favour of Mst Naseeban had attained finality. However, the parties still disputing for their rights in respect of the quarter may adopt the legal course, the order said.

DSP Rana Shahid and SHO Ehsan had admitted before the chief justice that they had arrested the accused on Sept 17 from his house and got a ten-day remand from the magistrate without producing Khairi, who remained in police custody.

DSP Rana Shahid Pervez also stated that he was supervising the investigation being conducted in this matter but was not yet satisfied if Routine Form 5 (Possession Slip) was genuine or a fake one. According to him, he was still trying to ascertain its authenticity, the order said.

The DSP stated that right from the very beginning, the quarter was still in possession of Ali Akhtar Abbasi.

Mst Shamim Akhtar, claiming herself to be the wife of Mr Abbasi, also appeared during the chamber hearing.

The FIR under which Khairi was arrested was registered on Sept 16, 2004 at the instance of Shafiqur Rehman, son of Haji Abdul Wahab.