SHO flouts court orders

Reluctant to register torture case against jail officials.

LAHORE:

Despite court orders, the Kot Lakhpat station head officer (SHO) is yet to register an FIR against jail officials that allegedly tortures a prisoner after he found human flesh in his food and reported it to the media.

Dr Faheem Raza filed a petition complaining he had been tortured by the jail superintendent, deputy superintendent, warden and a doctor.

Additional and District Sessions Judge Rao Abdul Jabbar directed Kot Lakhpat SHO Khalid Mehmood to register a case against the inspector general for prisons and deputy inspector general, respondents in Dr Raza’s petition.

In case of non-compliance, an FIR would be registered against the SHO under Section 155-C of the Police Order 2002.

SHO Mehmood, however, said that an FIR should not be registered before both parties sit together and discussed the matter. He said that the police needed to hold an inquiry prior to registering an FIR. He said if an FIR was registered in haste, it was likely the court would dispose it of due to lack of details. “So why not confirm the matter first?” he said talking to The Express Tribune.

He said that Dr Raza had named the IG, the DIG and other prison officials. He said neither the IG nor the DIG were involved in detaining or beating Dr Raza, so mentioning their names in the petition was inappropriate.

Dr Raza told The Tribune that the SHO was deliberately delaying the FIR registration. He claimed the SHO had told him that he could not register a case against his seniors.

He said the SHO had several times asked him to withdraw the case. There was no need for an inquiry after the court orders, he said. Dr Raza said he would move to the court again if the SHO continued violating court orders.

Dr Raza says that after he complained about finding human finger in his food, he was shifted to a different cell where a jail official tortured him by pulling out his toe nails with a pair of pliers.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2011.