Lahore - Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar on Sunday took notice of the alleged assault by some lawyers on a sub-inspector of police in the sessions court Lahore.
The notice was taken on a news item carried by a section of the media. As per report, a sub-inspector of Punjab police was thrashed and tortured by some lawyers in the sessions court.
The CJP has directed IGP Punjab Muhammad Tahir to appear in court on October 13 along with the report on the matter. The CJP also issued notices to Vice Chairman of Pakistan Bar Council Ahsan Bhoon as well as the president and general secretary of the Lahore District Bar Association (LDBA) to appear in the court on the date fixed. The alleged assault came to the notice of the chief justice of Pakistan through a media report.
As per the report, complainant Samar Riaz stated in the FIR that at 12:00pm, a police officer deployed in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Azhar Iqbal Ranjha telephoned him that the court had summoned him within 30 minutes. Due to traffic mess, he added, he got late and reached the court at 1:00pm.
As he reached the court, the complainant alleged, the accused attacked him in the sessions court, thrashed and tortured him and also criminally intimidated him. He said they also tore off his uniform.
The SI alleged that the accused also kept him in illegal custody in a room. Samar further alleged that the lawyers also issued him life threats in case he filed an FIR for legal action against them. After the incident, a police official said, the law enforcement agency went on pen-down strike for a brief period to condemn the lawyers’ torture. He said the strike was ‘symbolic’ and it was observed at all police stations and offices in Lahore. The police booked the lawyers for beating up the cop under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).
On the other hand, the lawyers staged a protest by locking all the sessions court gates over registration of an FIR against some of their colleagues. The protesters chanted slogans against police for registering the FIR under Section 7-ATA and Sections 353, 342, 506 and 186 of the PPC on the allegations of thrashing, kidnapping, criminally intimidating a sub-inspector of Nawab Town Police Station.
On the report of SI Samar Riaz Khan, the Islampura police last Thursday booked advocates Saif Khokhar, Nabeel Haider, Mustafa Khokhar and 14 others.
Meanwhile, a lawyers’ team met District and Sessions Judge Abid Hussain Qureshi and held negotiations; the district judge assured them that he would make an all-out efforts to get the cases withdrawn as 7-ATA had been added in the FIR.
