The hearing of contempt case against the inspector general of police (IGP) Sindh and other senior police officers could not be initiated on Wednesday as 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 resumed hearing of the case. Sindh IGP Ghulam Hyder Jamali and other police officers were also present in the court.
Advocate Maulvi Iqbal Haider requested the court to order inclusion of the names of IGP and other police officers in the exit control list (ECL). Justice Bhatti remarked that why did he repeatedly interfere in the case and then refuse to hear the case. Resultantly, the new bench also broke down.
The case was again 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 avoided 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 December 23, 2015, had 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 People’s Party leader Dr Zulfikar Mirza for besieging the SHC and adjoining anti-terrorism courts on May 19 and 23. During the May 23 siege of the SHC, uniformed and plainclothes 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.