IHC Indicts officials in MPO Case

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has initiated contempt proceedings against several senior government officers, including Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon, for detaining two PTI leaders under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance, 1960, in violation of an IHC order.

Shehryar Afridi and Shandana Gulzar were detained under Section 3 of the MPO a week after the May 9 riots that broke out across the country following the arrest of PTI chief Imran Khan. The MPO empowers the government to arrest individuals "acting in any manner prejudicial to public safety."

Later, Shehryar Afridi filed a petition with the IHC against his detention. On June 5, an IHC bench led by Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir declared his detention order illegal and instructed authorities not to arrest him within the boundaries of Islamabad.

However, Shehryar was arrested again under Section 3 of the MPO. This detention was finally declared illegal by Justice Sattar on August 16.

On that day, the court also decided to indict Islamabad DC Memon, SSP Operations Jameel Zafar, and other officials, including SP Farooq Amjad and police officer Naseer Manzoor, for alleged contempt of court and misuse of power.

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When the judge resumed hearing the case on Thursday, the officials submitted an unconditional apology and provided written clarifications through Islamabad's advocate general.

Justice Sattar, however, rejected the apology and decided to initiate contempt proceedings.

The judge remarked that there is a six-month sentence in this case and stated, "You can also spend some time in jail to see how those whom you send to jail are doing."

The court later pressed charges against DC Nawaz and SSP Operations Zafar. Charges were also brought against SP Amjad and police officer Manzoor. All the nominated officials denied the allegations.

Justice Babar Sattar, while reading out the charges in the contempt of court case, said, "Charges have been read in an open court in front of you. Now, you can legally defend yourself during the trial."

The court also appointed lawyer Qaiser Imam as the prosecutor to represent them in the case.