LAHORE – An application was filed before the Lahore High Court (LHC) member inspection team (MIT) seeking disciplinary action against Judicial Magistrate Irfan Anjum for committing alleged irregularities in a case. Advocate Usman Ali filed the application submitting that the magistrate had been hearing a case wherein a poor boy Muhammad Arshad was also involved in a crime along with other accused. The case’s FIR was registered by the Ravi Road Police Station under sections 281-A and 411 of the Pakistan Penal Code and accused Arshad was arrested by police on February 18, 2010.
The lawyer pointed out that according to the report submitted by the investigating officer (IO), all the accused were innocent. He said the IO had also requested the magistrate to discharge the case. Usman alleged that Irfan refused to accept the police report in Arshad’s case but released all other accused on bail. He said that Arshad told him the whole story, when he met him during a visit to the Lahore district courts.
The lawyer said that he promised Arshad to provide him free legal assistance and appeared before the court of the magistrate and complained that despite the lapse of over 14 months, the accused was not charged. He alleged that on pointing out, the magistrate compelled Arshad to confess his crime and ensure his release by considering his under trial period as an undergone sentence. Usman alleged that the magistrate forcefully obtained the thump impression of Arshad on the confession statement and adjourned the case for April 21 for announcing the verdict.
Sialkot judges’ killing
accused Acquittal case referred to CJ: A division bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) referred the case of killing of four civil judges in the Sialkot Jail to the Chief Justice on Monday. The case relates to the acquittal of officials accused in the case. The four judges were killed during an inspection of the said jail in 2003. The bench, headed by Justice Manzoor Malik, referred the matter to the chief justice requesting the hearing be placed before the terrorism cases bench. The appeals have been moved by the father of Shahryar Syed, a deceased civil judge, against the 10-year jail sentence each awarded to Assistant Superintendent Raja Mushtaq, Sialkot Jail Warden Muhammad Hafeez and the acquittal of other officers.
