LAHORE: A district and sessions court on Monday gave last opportunity to the Islampura station house officer (SHO) to file his report on a petition seeking registration of a case against Pakistan Administrative Services (PAS) officers for observing a pen-down strike against the arrest of former head of Lahore Development Authority Ahad Cheema.

A civil society member, Amina Malik, had filed the petition pleading that Cheema was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in accordance with the law, but the PAS officers went on a strike and also locked down their offices in protest against his arrest. She said government officers could not go on strike as they were bound to be loyal to the state.

She said locking public offices and observing a strike could not be allowed at any cost, and such an act was tantamount to interfering in government affairs.

The petitioner said she approached Islampura police for registration of a first information report (FIR) against the protesting officers, but police were reluctant to take any action. She asked the court to order the police to lodge an FIR against the officers for observing the strike.

The court had already directed the Islampura SHO to submit his report on the matter, however, the direction was not complied with. The court expressed its dismay and gave a last chance to the SHO to submit the report by March 24.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2018