ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday directed Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan to resubmit his reply in the contempt case with regard to arrest of former minister Dr Shireen Mazari.
IHC’s Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, hearing the case, expressed his dissatisfaction over the reply submitted by the IGP, who along with his lawyer Zahid Asif appeared before the court.
The lawyer said the IGP had submitted his answer on the last date of hearing. No police official was present in the court room when the IHC issued order stopping the police to arrest Dr Mazari, he added.
Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb noted that the IGP, in his reply, had expressed ignorance about the court’s order, and also stated that even his subordinates were not aware of it.
The reply further said that the Rawalpindi Police had arrested Dr Shireen Mazari on the order of deputy commissioner and the Capital Police assisted them because of their ignorance about the court orders.
The IGP stated that he could not even think of disobeying the IHC orders. The petitioner had also not claimed that she had provided the copy of court orders to the police, he added, praying the court to terminate the contempt of court case against him.
Justice Miangul Hassan remarked that an impression was given that the Islamabad Police gave priority to the orders of Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi over the court’s order.
The court noted that its orders were showed to the police at the time of arrest of Shireen Mazari, which, however, preferred the orders of deputy commissioner.
The IGP said he would protect his officers as they were not aware of the court’s orders.
Justice Miangul Hassan expressed annoyance over the IGP’s reply and directed him to re-submit his comments.
“Who will protect the rights of citizens if this court does not do that? The Islamabad Police should have stopped the Rawalpindi Police when order of this court was in place,” he add.
Petitioner’s lawyer Zainab Janjua said they had showed the court orders to the police and they had complete video recording of the arrest of Shireen Mazari.
The court again instructed the IGP to resubmit his answer and adjourned the hearing till June 22.