The hearing of the contempt case against the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sindh and other senior police officers could not be initiated on Wednesday as yet another Sindh High Court (SHC) judge disassociated himself from the case.
The new two-member bench comprising Justice Muneeb Akhtar and Justice Saqib Hussain Bhatti had resumed hearing of the case. IGP Sindh Ghulam Hyder Jamali and other police officers were present in the court. Advocate Maulvi Iqbal Haider requested the court to order inclusion of the names of IGP and other police officers in Exit Control List (ECL).
Justice Bhatti rebuked the advocate for what he called repeated interference in the case and then refused to hear it, causing the bench to break down.
The case was referred to Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah for formation of a new bench and the case was adjourned till March 03.
On last hearing, Justice Karim Khan Agha had recused himself from hearing the case on account of his personal relationship with the petitioner.
Justices Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh and Syed Muhammad Farooq Shah of the previous division bench on Dec 23, 2015 dissociated themselves from the case after lawyers for the alleged contemnors expressed ‘no-confidence’ in the bench.
The contempt proceedings against IGP Jamali and others were initiated on the petition of disowned Pakistan Peoples Party leader Dr Zulfikar Mirza for besieging the SHC and adjoining antiterrorism courts on May 19 and 23.
During the May 23 siege of the SHC, uniformed and plain-clothes personnel had used force to arrest a number of associates of Dr Mirza who, along with him, appeared in court to seek confirmation of their pre-arrest bail in several cases.
Dr Mirza’s guards and some of his associates, as well as media persons, were manhandled at the main gate of the court’s building. Several vehicles parked in the area and media personnel’s cameras were also damaged during the action.
The court had framed charges, but the officers pleaded their innocence and opted to face the charges.
Earlier, the bench had rejected the police officers’ apologies on two occasions.
Those formally indicted for contempt are: IGP Jamali, former Karachi police chief Additional IG Ghulam Qadir Thebo, DIG-South Dr Jamil Ahmed, DIG-West Feroze Shah, Captain Asad, officer in charge of the Special Security Unit SSP retired Major Saleem, Additional IG-Legal Faisal Bashir Memon, SSP-City Fida Hussain Janwari, SP-Saddar Zeeshan Shafiq Siddiqui, former SP-Saddar Raees Abdul Ghani, SP-Headquarters (West) Tahir Noorani and Sub-Inspector Jehangir Mahar.
