Court trial: Awaiting trial for 7 years, man wants name cleared
Court officials and police pass the buck as challan of case goes missing.
LAHORE:
The District and Sessions Court on Wednesday sought a report on which record-keeper is assigned to the judicial magistrate at Bhati Gate police station as it sought to locate the challan of a seven-year-old case or determine who was responsible for losing it.
Usman Haroon Qadri had filed a petition on April 5, 2011, seeking the recovery of the challan of the case registered against him at Bhati Gate police station for allegedly stabbing a policeman in October 2004.
Qadri was granted bail by the Lahore High Court in 2005 and has been awaiting a chance to clear his name in court, he said, but the challan of the case had not been submitted.
He said that he had been falsely accused by police officials. He said the medical report produced by the police regarding the alleged victim’s injuries had been shown to be bogus.
He said he had also filed an application in the local magistrate’s court. The court had also sent letters to the deputy inspector general of police and a senior superintendent of police directing them to order the Bhati Gate SHO and investigation officer to produce the challan and take action against any misconduct by officers.
Still, the challan had not been produced.
He told the court that he feared that he would be declared an absconder and killed by the police in a staged encounter.
The hearing of the petition has seen several officials from the police and the courts pass on the blame for losing the challan to other officials. Assistant Sub Inspector Babar Riaz testified that the file of the case had been received by Abdul Hafeez, record keeper (ahlmed) for Additional District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Musharraf Hassan Sumra.
Hafeez was summoned for April 25, 2011, when he told the court that he had sent the file on to Mohammad Ahmed, record keeper for then Judicial Magistrate Rai Mohammad Nawaz Marth. Ahmed testified that he had sent it to Judicial Magistrate Saeed Ahmed Awan, but his record keeper denied ever receiving the file.
Six more record-keepers as well as the SHO and IO of Bhati gate police were summoned to the court but the fate of the challan is still unclear.
According to the first information report of the case, SI Arshad Mehmood and colleagues Muhammad Ilyas and Arhsad Javed were patrolling near a milk shop in Bhati Gate when Qadri attacked the policemen with a dagger. He was said to have injured the sub inspector, who was later treated at Jameel Hospital. The case was registered under Sections 324, 353, 186, 337 (f)(ii) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 16th, 2011.
The District and Sessions Court on Wednesday sought a report on which record-keeper is assigned to the judicial magistrate at Bhati Gate police station as it sought to locate the challan of a seven-year-old case or determine who was responsible for losing it.
Usman Haroon Qadri had filed a petition on April 5, 2011, seeking the recovery of the challan of the case registered against him at Bhati Gate police station for allegedly stabbing a policeman in October 2004.
Qadri was granted bail by the Lahore High Court in 2005 and has been awaiting a chance to clear his name in court, he said, but the challan of the case had not been submitted.
He said that he had been falsely accused by police officials. He said the medical report produced by the police regarding the alleged victim’s injuries had been shown to be bogus.
He said he had also filed an application in the local magistrate’s court. The court had also sent letters to the deputy inspector general of police and a senior superintendent of police directing them to order the Bhati Gate SHO and investigation officer to produce the challan and take action against any misconduct by officers.
Still, the challan had not been produced.
He told the court that he feared that he would be declared an absconder and killed by the police in a staged encounter.
The hearing of the petition has seen several officials from the police and the courts pass on the blame for losing the challan to other officials. Assistant Sub Inspector Babar Riaz testified that the file of the case had been received by Abdul Hafeez, record keeper (ahlmed) for Additional District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Musharraf Hassan Sumra.
Hafeez was summoned for April 25, 2011, when he told the court that he had sent the file on to Mohammad Ahmed, record keeper for then Judicial Magistrate Rai Mohammad Nawaz Marth. Ahmed testified that he had sent it to Judicial Magistrate Saeed Ahmed Awan, but his record keeper denied ever receiving the file.
Six more record-keepers as well as the SHO and IO of Bhati gate police were summoned to the court but the fate of the challan is still unclear.
According to the first information report of the case, SI Arshad Mehmood and colleagues Muhammad Ilyas and Arhsad Javed were patrolling near a milk shop in Bhati Gate when Qadri attacked the policemen with a dagger. He was said to have injured the sub inspector, who was later treated at Jameel Hospital. The case was registered under Sections 324, 353, 186, 337 (f)(ii) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 16th, 2011.