The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday turned down the unconditional apologies of Inspector General Police (IGP) Ghulam Haider Jamali and 15 other police officials and decided to indict them on contempt of court charges on November 25.
Former Sindh home minister Zulfiqar Mirza is seeking contempt proceedings against the provincial police of Sindh for besieging the SHC and anti-terrorism courts earlier this year.
The Chief Secretariat has been asked by the SHC to inform about the actions taken against Jamali and other police officials for contempt of court with a report to be submitted on the subject by November 25.
The police officers, including IG Jamali, had submitted unconditional apologies to the court which all dismissed. The police officials will now be indicted on November 25 after months of court proceedings following the attack on Mirza’s convoy outside the SHC building.
In May, the SHC had warned the provincial authorities that it would take action against the police officers responsible for the SHC siege on the occasion of Zulfikar Mirza’s presence in the court if the provincial government remained a silent spectator on the matter.
The court had then deferred the indictment of IGP Ghulam Hyder Jamali, Karachi police chief Ghulam Qadir Thebo and other senior police officers over contempt charges.
Later in July, the SHC had again reserved its verdict on the petition submitted by Zulfikar Mirza seeking contempt proceedings against the provincial police for besieging the SHC and anti-terrorism court on May 19 and 23.
On May 23, masked and armed policemen had laid a siege around the SHC. Guards providing security to Mirza and media persons were brutally beaten up by the masked policemen at the main gate of SHC building. The policemen had also smashed several parked vehicles and snatched cameras from journalists. The provincial police chief and other police officials filed their respective affidavits which were taken on record.
The court had then restrained police from arresting Zulfikar Mirza or registering new cases against him without the court’s permission and had ordered Rangers to escort him and his wife back to their residence.
