It emerged on Saturday that the Islamabad High Court will indict the DC and SSP of operations in the federal capital on August 28 for detaining Shehryar Afridi in matters connected to Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) notwithstanding court orders.
The Islamabad High Court further requested that the IGP of Islamabad disclose the names of the officers who provided the “source report” that led to Afridi’s arrest.
Justice Babar Sattar issued a written order for a contempt of court prosecution against DC Irfan Memon and Operations SSP Jameel Zafar, finding their responses to the show cause notice issued in connection with Afridi’s arrest to be unacceptable.
The court noted that the MPO against Afridi had been nullified by the high court in June, but that the district magistrate had illegally issued a new order based on a “source report.” It was also mentioned that once the Rawalpindi DC’s MPO had expired, the Islamabad DC issued a new one.
The court said that initial indications are that the Islamabad DC disregarded the court’s directives. Justice Sattar said that the DC insulted the judicial system by insinuating that court rulings are not obligatory for the municipal administration, and he gave the district magistrate the option to file a further reply expanding on this if he so desired.
Read about Shehryar Afridi’s re-arrest despite a release order from the LHC here.
A source report was apparently considered as if it were rubber stamped by SSP Operations, which the court noted was in violation of the IHC’s directives.
The current station house officer (SHO) and deputy police officer (DPO) of the concerned police station informed the court that they took over on 8 August, Justice Sattar remarked.
The IGP in the nation’s capital was ordered by the IHC to provide the identities of the SHO and DPO who provided the’source report’ to the court.
The court issued “show cause” orders, requesting responses from the appropriate parties before the next scheduled hearing.
Afridi and Shandana Gulzar, both members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), were arrested on May 16 as part of a widespread crackdown against the former ruling party. After party chairman Imran Khan’s detention on May 9, suspected supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) vandalised and set fire to state and army facilities and memorials.
The court ordered their release on August 16 after noting that the district magistrate’s detention decision appeared to be without legal basis.
The court added that it appears the detention orders issued in Punjab, the KP, and Islamabad had been synchronised in such a way that a subsequent order was issued like clockwork to keep the petitioner in detention before or at the time of the expiry, withdrawal, or setting aside of a detention order.
The court gave the government till August 16 to file its response to the repeated arrest of Afridi.
