ISLAMABAD, Nov 4: The Supreme Court ordered the chief secretary and Inspector General of Punjab on Friday to take strict action against the Faisalabad police chief for forcing a poor electrician to compromise on the promised compensation for the death of his son in celebratory firing at a wedding ceremony.

“A poor (man) has lost his son, accept negligence; you don’t deserve any mercy,” Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said while pointing to Faisalabad City Police Officer Rai Tahir who was constantly requesting the court to pardon him.

A two-judge bench had taken notice of non-payment of compensation to Shahid Ali whose 12-year-old son Mohammad Bilal was killed in the firing. He was pressurised by PML-N MPA Khawaja Mohammad Islam and police to pardon the killer through a compromise deal.

“Is the MPA holding his own court? Is he not interfering in the state affair by forcing the poor man to strike the compromise deal?” the chief justice asked.

The court was also disappointed by the bail granted to the alleged killer, Rana Imran, by the additional district judge of Faisalabad on Sept 26 without realising that only Rs250,000 had been paid to the deceased’s father as Qisas and Diyat though the amount should have been equivalent to the prevalent value of 30,630 grams of silver.

The bench observed that the agreement should have been effective after the court’s approval and said the additional sessions judge had simply accepted the deal reached outside the court. It ordered that a reference be sent to the Lahore High Court chief justice for action against the additional district judge.

On Sept 5, Shahid Ali, his son Bilal and brother Zahid Ali went to illuminate a wedding ceremony of one Adnan Aslam. Rana Imran started firing into the air on the occasion and when asked to stop he fired a shot which resulted in the killing the boy.

The MPA later forced Shahid Ali to strike a compromise deal with Rana Imran by saying that even if he did not pardon the accused police would eventually release him.

The electrician agreed to accept a promised amount of Rs650,000. The MPA initially paid him Rs100,000 and later Rs150,000.

On Friday, Additional Advocate General of Punjab Jawwad Hassan informed the apex court that the additional sessions judge had recalled his order and the bail now stood cancelled.

He said police had arrested Rana Imran and produced him before a magistrate who had sent him to the judicial lockup. A challan was also submitted to the local trial court on Oct 7.

The case was adjourned to Nov 16.