The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday expressed annoyance over Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ghulam Haider Jamali for being late to appear in the court in a contempt case.
Additional IG Ghulam Qadir Thebo, Deputy Inspector General Feroz Shah and Senior Superintendent of Police Faisal Bashir Mehmon, however, reached the court in time. Justice Muneeb Akhtar remarked: “You are senior officers and such attitude is not acceptable.” No excuse would be heard for being late or absent in the next hearing, he added.
The court also directed the police officers not to come to court in their uniform as they were accused in the case. Justice KK Agha, a member of the bench, on Tuesday distanced himself from the case. A new bench will be formed to hear the case on February 17.
The contempt of court case against the Sindh police high officials was initiated on the petition of estranged Pakistan People’s Party leader Dr Zulfiqar Mirza for besieging the SHC building and adjoining anti-terrorism courts on May 19 and 23 last year.
On May 23, masked police commandos in uniform and plainclothes used force to arrest a number of associates of Dr Mirza who, along with him, appeared in the court to seek confirmation of their pre-arrest bail in several cases. Zulfiqar Mirza’s guards and some of his associates, as well as media persons, were manhandled at the main gate of the court’s building.
