Islamabad IGP, DC, SSP suspended on SC orders
ISLAMABAD: The government, on an order of the Supreme Court, on Monday suspended three top officials of the Islamabad administration in connection with weekend violence against lawyers, journalists and representatives of the civil society on Constitution Avenue in the capital.
“As per the court direction, we have suspended Inspector-General of Islamabad Police (IGP) Syed Marwat Shah; SSP Naeem Khan and Deputy Commissioner Chaudhry Muhammad Ali,” Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah told a three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, hearing suo moto case of violence against lawyers and media persons. The interior secretary further submitted that on the directives of the prime minister a three-member inquiry committee was investigating the incident, which would present its report in 10 days. However, in view of the orders of the Supreme Court, a disciplinary action will be taken against the suspended officers, he added.
The other members of the SC bench, which heard the case, are Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar and Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Sunday took suomoto notice of the use of force against journalists and lawyers by police and law enforcing agencies in front of Election Commission office on Saturday and ordered the suspension of these officials on Monday.
The chief justice had also issued notices to the interior secretary and top officials of the Islamabad administration to appear before the court, with the direction to produce the security plan if received from the Ministry of Interior.
During the hearing, the chief justice observed that the elections are near, and such actions should be stopped forthwith, otherwise the people would come on the streets. The court had ordered that stern action would be taken against those responsible. The court inquired who were the people deployed in plainclothes with the policemen in uniform and on whose orders tear gas shells were fired.
The bench observed that the Islamabad IGP, the DC and the SSP are responsible for mishandling the situation in front of the Election Commission Saturday. During the hearing, the apex court also watched the video recording of the incident telecast on private television channels.
The bench also issued contempt of court notices to IGP Syed Marwat Shah, Deputy Commissioner Chaudhry Muhammad Ali and Duty Magistrate Irfan Ahmed for firing tear gas shells in the compound of the Supreme Court building by police on that day.
The court held that a subordinate officer could not do such act unless the orders are issued by the high-ups. The court observed that this contemptuous act could not be tolerated and issued show-cause notices to the officers as to why they should not be punished for contempt of court.
The court also directed the lawyers and the media persons to submit their affidavits about the incident to the additional registrar of the court within a week. The court also observed that it is an admitted fact that on the day, Islamabad administration, instead of acting on security plan, resorted to use of force in which empty-handed lawyers and media persons were beaten mercilessly.
The court directed the interior secretary to furnish complete data of those who were deployed in plainclothes on that day within three days to the Supreme Court registrar along with their photographs to match with the video films. The court directed judge anti-corruption court Rawalpindi to dispose of bail applications filed by the lawyers booked under Section 7 of the anti-Terrorist Act by this evening at all costs. The court directed for complete treatment of injured persons re-admitting them to hospitals on the expense of the federal government.
The court asked eminent lawyer Khalid Anwar to assist the government in preparing a code of conduct in this regard. The court adjourned the hearing till October 23. Agencies add: The Islamabad administration was directed to submit chemical details about tear gas shells that landed on the premises of the court and those used during the unrest also mentioning from where these shells had been imported.
Asma Shirazi and Tariq Chaudhry, on behalf of ARY and Aaj television channels, apprised the court of disconnection of the transmission of the channels during the incident. The bench directed the interior secretary and the information secretary to submit a report about the matter as well as provide details about a code of conduct for the electronic media. The court ordered that there should be no such interference by the departments concerned.
The bench directed executive director PIMS Syed Fazle Hadi to submit a report about treatment to be given on daily basis to two injured journalists Mazhar Sheikh and Sanaullah Zahid every day to the additional registrar of the Supreme Court.
The PIMS executive director informed the court that record about injured journalist Irfan Malik had been misplaced and rejected the allegation by the journalist that it had been taken away by some agency personnel.
The bench expressed concern over the deployment of police force in plain clothes and said it was a “heinous crime.” It said police force in plainclothes could not be deputed. Directing the interior secretary to provide details about the deployment of police in plainclothes on September 29 within three days, the bench said that lawyers and the journalists could submit affidavits to the additional registrar office about the incidents.
Police submitted its report about the incidents and presented a copy of the FIR lodged by Dr Farooq Sattar. About an hour and a half after the start of the proceedings, the bench decided to hold in-camera session about the incident and all those present there were asked to leave, except three representatives each of lawyers and media and the Punjab advocate-general, the interior secretary and the officials of Islamabad administration.
The bench ordered the interior secretary to register cases, and suspend the chief commissioner Islamabad, inspector-general police Islamabad and senior superintendent police, otherwise, the court will suspend them.
The court directed the secretary interior to furnish complete data of those who were deployed in plainclothes on that day within three days to the registrar of the Supreme Court along with their photographs to match with the video films.
The court observed with concern that the nation is passing through a difficult time that requires patience and a proper response from all citizens, including the lawyers and the media and they should show tolerance at all costs.
The court asked the lawyers to show patience and sense of responsibility and must respect to the court, its judgments and the judges and avoid raising objections against their decisions. The court also asked media to discharge its duty with full responsibility and observed that they should keep in mind that criticism on any institution can lead to the country to a difficult aspect.
The court also observed that it would expect from the law-enforcement agencies also that they should show utmost responsibility to run the state affairs without hampering. The court expressed the hope that the new administration of Islamabad would not allow such happenings again.
Earlier the SSP informed the court that the administration was forced to take action against the lawyers and the media as they had tried to march towards the Election Commission building. “The matter is very serious, don’t take it so lightly,” the chief justice remarked.
Justice Raja Fayyaz observed that there might be three possibilities for the action, first, the police personal deployed at the venue were inexperienced, second, they tried to be more loyal towards their masters and the third, one which seems to be more correct is that they had instructions to beat lawyers and journalists.
Directors of PIMS and the Ploy Clinic hospitals also appeared in the court and presented a report about the persons admitted to the hospitals. However, the court expressed dissatisfaction over the report of the hospital administration as many injured complained that they were forcibly discharged form the hospitals.
The court held that if the district magistrate would have worked properly on that day, this all should not have been happened. The court observed that why cases have not been registered against the personnel of law enforcement agencies who misused their power on that day.
Punjab Advocate-General Aftab Iqbal appeared on the behalf of the government. Around 53 people, including lawyers, journalists, photographers and cameramen were injured when police used batons, fired tear gas shells and threw stones at protestors. Earlier, lawyers and journalists recoded their statements and TV channels presented footages in the court about the police action.
Source: The News
Date:10/2/2007
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