ISLAMABAD: A three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Wednesday, while hearing a suo motu case of the murder of a Defence Housing Authority (DHA) guard, directed the Islamabad inspector general of police (IGP) to supervise the investigation himself and submit a report within three weeks.
The court directed Islamabad IGP Bani Amin Khan, who appeared on notice, to investigate the case without being influenced by anyone and to deal with the perpetrators of the crime in accordance with the law.
Security personnel from Bahria Town were accused of killing DHA security guard Muhammad Fayyaz.
The court initiated proceedings in the case on an appeal, published in a section of press on October 12, 2009, by the father of the deceased security guard.
At the outset of hearing, police officials told the court that after October 10, 2010, no progress had been made in the case. Hamid Khan, counsel for Bahria Town Islamabad chairman, raised objections on the report submitted in the apex court by the district and sessions judge, Islamabad.
Islamabad IGP Bani Amin Khan failed to satisfactorily tell the court about how, despite registration of a case wherein a person had been killed, no final conclusion, prima facie, fixing the responsibility upon the accused persons had been made.
However, he stated that after registration of the case, more than six or seven station house officers (SHO) and investigation officers (IO) under the supervising officer had been changed from time to time but no one had probed the matter thoroughly.
The court noted that proceedings in the case could not be finalised unless the police concluded the matter in all respects and the culprits charged for the offence had been brought to justice.
The court observed that record showed that the police officers had conducted the investigation in a callous manner, without using their professional skills. The court further observed that a perusal of records indicated that whenever the complainant, Shaukat Ali, appeared and recorded his supplementary statement, wherein he named new persons, the police interrogated them and afterwards released some of them, while few had succeeded in getting bail from court.
The court said that a first investigation report (FIR) had been registered on August 14, 2008, however the case had not been solved, which clearly indicated the highhandedness of the police.
The Islamabad IGP stated that before he took charge, five IGP’s had been changed, and everyone had been fully aware that such an important case was pending but had not bothered to take the case to its logical conclusion.
However, he said that if he was given three weeks, he would constitute a team to probe the matter thoroughly and would complete investigations in accordance with the law and submit a report before the apex court. The court then allowed him three weeks and adjourned the hearing until February 27.
link: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012%5C02%5C02%5Cstory_2-2-2012_pg7_22
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