ISLAMABAD, March 13: Shocking disclosures were made on Wednesday in the Supreme Court during the hearing of the Badami Bagh arson attack case when the Punjab police confessed about the disappearance of complainant Imran along with two witnesses who had implicated a Christian in a blasphemy case.

A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed was informed that the local station house officer (SHO) had been compelled to register an FIR on blasphemy charges against Sawan Masih despite his reluctance and that too without mentioning in the report the derogatory remarks. The complainant fled because he had been implicated in another FIR for his involvement in the mob attack on the Christian neighbourhood.

In his report submitted to the court, Acting Inspector General of Punjab Police Khan Beg conceded that the police system to control law and order had failed to rightly assess the situation in Joseph Colony which eventually led to the arson attack and burning of over 178 houses of Christians.

“The judgment call by the local police officer resulted in the evacuation of the locality which saved the lives of the Christians but could not save their property,” the report said.

Lahore’s Special Superintendent of Police (investigations) Babar Bukht informed the court that local prayer leaders had cooperated with police in trying to defuse the tension. The riot, he explained, was the result of local politics in which one of the groups contesting the nearby iron market elections had encouraged workers of different godowns to gather and attack the Christians. He named two local leaders, Tariq Gujjar and Usman Butt, involved in the mob attack.

Advocate General of Punjab Ashtar Ausaf submitted a 258-page report on the 2009 Gojra riots in Faisalabad prepared by a judicial commission headed by Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman, but conceded that neither any action was taken against the miscreants who had killed eight Christians nor had its recommendations been implemented.

The reason, he said, was a compromise reached between the parties.

But the chief justice asked him how could a compromise be struck when the charges of blasphemy had been levelled. “This means that allegations of sacrilege were phoney,” the chief justice observed. Discrimination against minorities always sent a bad impression to the world, he added.

“How can we trust police and give them a free hand to play with the life and property of people when the general election is round the corner,” the CJ asked.

The bench was not satisfied with the police report and said the court could not understand why police had failed to bring truth on record. Unless true facts were produced before the court it would not be possible for police or any agency to pursue against the culprits, it said.

The court expressed annoyance over the non-submission of a report on the conduct of senior police officers, including the inspector general and Lahore police chief, despite its earlier directives.

It ordered the Punjab government to submit a comparative table suggesting measures taken to prevent attacks on Christians and if such a system was in place why the Badami Bagh incident had taken place.

The court regretted that it was because of insensitivity and disinterest shown by the Punjab IG, otherwise the incident could have been averted.

The court noted that police and the prosecutor general of Punjab were giving contradictory statements and nobody knew why the people of Joseph Colony had been compelled to leave their houses between the night of March 8 and 9. It asked why no security was provided to protect belongings of the residents of the area when undoubtedly they had the right of protection by the state under Articles 7 and 9 of the Constitution. The Punjab government, the bench said, owed a duty to satisfy the court why the fundamental rights to protect the property and dignity had not been enforced.