LAHORE: On Saturday, the Investigation Officer (IO) failed to show the case file for the riots against Khadija Shah on May 9. The next hearing was set for November 13 by the ATC duty judge, who told the IO to show the case record at that hearing.
But the judge who should have been there was not at today’s meeting. The post-arrest bail hearing was run by the duty judge, who was told that the IO is busy with other cases connected to the May 9 case and will turn in a report by the next date.
The IO had been told ahead of time that they would not be in court for hearings, so this was their last chance to show records. In the next case, the prosecutor asked the court to move the case to the correct court where the challan had been sent so that the hearing could begin. The judge agreed to the request and sent the post-arrest bail to the right court.
Case specifics
Khadija Shah, the petitioner, was being heard by the special court about her post-arrest bail in connection with a FIR she was facing for reportedly helping to set fire to the Rahat Bakery. The FIR came about after Justice Aalia Neelum’s division bench at the Lahore High Court (LHC) released Khadija on bail after she was arrested in two other FIRs. One of them was for setting fire to Askari Tower, and the other was for damaging Jinnah House.
But a report from the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore showed that only two FIRs had been filed against her because of the riots on May 9. Even though the division bench let her go free after being arrested in the first two FIRs, she was arrested again in a third FIR for reportedly helping to set fire to Rahat Bakery.
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In response, Khadija brought a contempt case against police officers she said lied to the court by hiding the truth about how FIRs were registered. The case for disrespect is still being heard by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi.
In the most recent case heard by Justice Najafi, Dr. Usman Anwar, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Punjab, could not reassure the court, even though the Judge asked her several times about her recent arrest in the third case.
The judge asked why the police had to wait for the court’s final decision on her bail, why she wasn’t questioned while she was in prison, and who would promise that she wouldn’t be arrested again if she was released on bail in the third case.
