ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday found the investigation into the torture and abduction of journalists Asad Toor, Absar Alam and Matiullah Janan “unsatisfactory” and ordered the appointment of a competent investigating officer.
A three-judge bench led by the Chief Justice of Pakistan Kazi Faez Isa in the case of harassment of journalists expressed dismay at the lack of progress in the investigation into the “kidnapping” of journalist Matiullah Jana.
The Supreme Court ordered journalists to publish sketches of the attackers in newspapers and advertise a reward amount for the arrest of the suspects. SC granted 30 days permission to Islamabad Police.
The hearing was adjourned until June to be fixed at a later date.
The court also ordered to send the complete CCTV footage of the abductees in the Matiullah Jan case to the Punjab Forensic Laboratory.
He started the trial by calling the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) to the stand.
“There is a record of the incident, why hasn’t the kidnapper been found yet?” JJP asked. SSP denied having CCTV footage of the incident.
This infuriated the SSP, who then asked why the SSP had been “recruited to the police to lie”. JJP Isa said the officer had “damaged the police uniform”.
The court confirmed that there are records proving the absence of SSP and inquired into documentary evidence.
SSP answered in agreement about the existence of written evidence.
The CJP asked how long the SSP had been in the police force. “13 years,” answered the police.
Fed up with the SSP’s response, the CJP directed the Additional Attorney General (AAG) to “suspend the case immediately”.
AAG apologized on behalf of SSP. But, JJP asked, “Why pardon such officials, why not take action against them?”
He also expressed his displeasure, saying, “I don’t like them very much.
“Just because we didn’t say anything doesn’t mean you can throw rocks at us.”
Before the hearing, Chakwal residents Raja Sher Bilal, Abrar Ahmed and Muhammad Asif appeared before the court and suggested that they plead before the court instead of submitting it to the court.
However, the petitioners refused to appeal to the apex court.
“How come someone is using your name and residential address? Are you going to file an FIR against the inquirer without your consent?” JJP asked.
Counsel on record, Advocate Rafaqat Hussain Shah, said the lawyer who had filed the petition had died.
Questioning the petitioner’s lawyer Haider Waheed about his client from Chakwal, the CJP criticized the “lecture” given to the court about his behavior on television.
SC deems investigation into attacks on journalists ‘unsatisfactory’
