|
|
|
|
Was Jamia Hafsa razed to suppress evidence?: DC will be jailed if charge proved: CJP
ISLAMABAD, Aug 18: The Supreme Court on Friday directed
Federal Interior Secretary Kamal Shah to handle the Lal Masjid case exclusively,
and observed that the administration had desecrated the Quran and destroyed all
evidence by demolishing Jamia Hafsa.
A four-member bench comprising Chief
Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza
Khan, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar and Justice M Javed Buttar was hearing the
suo motu case regarding extra- judicial killings during the Lal Masjid
operation.
The bench took notice of the delay in disposal of cases
against the students arrested from Jamia Hafsa. Taufeeq Asif, a legal aid
committee member, told the bench that Anti Terrorist Court Judge Sakhi Muhammad
Kahut, who was to hear students' cases, was on summer vacation till August 26
and therefore the cases had been adjourned until September. The bench then
directed the government to appoint a special ATC judge for hearing the cases on
a day-to-day basis.
The bench was told that 61 students were presently in
the custody. Thirty nine of them are involved in bailable offences and the joint
investigation team has recommended the release of 22 of them, the SC was told.
The CJP ordered immediate release of the 22 students.
National Crisis
Management Cell Director General Brig (r) Javed Iqbal Cheema said that 28 DNA
tests of the bodies had so far not matched with their claimants. The CJP
contradicted Cheema's claim, saying that 30 bodies remained unidentified
according to the Islamabad deputy commission.
The CJP issued a directive
that the federal interior secretary would appear in person in court from the
next hearing i.e. on August 28.
The CJP asked Islamabad DC Muhammad Ali
to explain why the building of Jamia Hafsa was demolished. "If it is proved that
the building had been demolished to remove the evidence, then you will be
prosecuted and put behind bars," the CJP told the DC.
When Justice
Chaudhry asked the DC if the Jamia Hafsa building was screened before being
demolished, his replied was in negative.
A legal aid committee member
called for a judicial inquiry into the case, but the CJP said findings of these
inquiries were always held in abeyance.
Justice Chaudhry said 90 percent
of the arrested students fell in grey category with regard to their offence. The
DC said he wanted to produce some record before the court at an in-camera
hearing, but the bench denied this.
The court directed the SSP to recover
within a week a man named Iftikhar, who reportedly went missing while searching
for his son Nadeem Iftikhar near Lal Masjid when the clash between security
forces and the mosque clerics was at an earlier stage.
Akthar Azim said
his two daughters Nargis Zohra and Sidratul Muntaha had surrendered to the
security forces, but gone missing since then. The DC told the court that the two
girls did not want to live with their father. The court directed the DC to
produce the sisters before a sessions judge to record their
statements.
Ghulam Muhammad produced a picture of his son surrendering to
the authorities. He said the authorities concerned were now giving him an
unidentified body. He questioned how his son could be killed when he had
surrendered to the forces. The court directed Deputy Attorney General Raja
Muhammad Irshad to look into this matter and adjourned the hearing for August
28. Daily times
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| Post your Comments/ Views about this News. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Education News | | Updated: 23 May, 2012 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
