The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday again rejected a fresh inquiry report submitted by the Punjab Police in the Badami Bagh arson case, saying judicial inquiries were not conducted for the sake of “face saving” only.
While hearing the suo motu case of Badami Bagh, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said the officer against whom judicial commission recommended action in Gojra incident remained posted at his place.
“When earlier recommendations have not been implemented, why should we provide our inquiry officer? Judicial officer has to face humiliation when the recommendations of judicial commission are not implemented.”
The CJP was responding to the demand made by the Punjab advocate general that a judicial inquiry be held into the incident to find out facts.
Justice Gulzar Ahmad observed that no one, including police, was trying to ascertain the real causes that led to the Joseph Colony arson.
The Punjab AG said no evidence had been found of handing over the possession of area to someone else after getting it evacuated.
The CJP said it would soon become clear who was interested in the Joseph Colony land.
The court observed that a blasphemer should be punished, but punishment should not be awarded to the entire community.
The Ramsha Masih case and this incident brought a bad name to the country.
“The Punjab government and police failed to conduct a transparent inquiry into the incident,” the CJP remarked.
He said the responsibility of the incident had been shifted on to the shoulders of the Lahore CCPO in the report.
Punjab IG Khan Beg said he was kept ignorant about the incident and it was the job of the SHO to respond to the situation.
The CJP remarked that the IGP could not be exonerated of the responsibility.
“Don’t give false statements before the court. Every police officer is trying to save him. No progress has been made in this case and we are standing where we started in this case. We could not bring to light the root cause of the incident. If we ask a sessions judge to hold inquiry, the persons responsible for this incident and facts would come to the light tomorrow.”
He further said it was not the job of the IGP to sit in air-conditioned rooms, it was his responsibility to look into the matter personally.
Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed said if police wanted they could have averted the incident by cordoning off the area.
The Punjab AG told the court that the federal government had not appointed IGP in the province so far.
The SP Investigation told the court blasphemous act had been committed in Badami Bagh incident and the FIR lodged against the accused Sawan Masih was correct.
The hearing was later adjourned until March 25.