SC rebukes police over poor investigation

Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa gave the police a dressing down on Thursday, and expressed his displeasure over the poor investigation, saying in remarks that the force had lost people’s respect and appeared to become the police for hire.

During the hearing of a case pertaining to the 70-tola gold committee, Chief Justice Isa underscored that the institutions should be respected, while the royal system of police and 'Patwari' should be abolished in the country.

The court was informed that 70 tolas of gold was not given to the plaintiff by the arrested goldsmith. The chief justice noted that no income tax had been paid on one and a half million worth of gold. “Where does this gold come from? What is its legal status,” he asked.

Chief Justice Isa further remarked that the actual suspect in this case should be the police. He added that the policeman would ask for the gold only for his own benefit. The committee was formed by the arrested suspect and the police investigated his family members.
The state supports corruption and smuggling, he further said. The case was heard by a three-member bench, headed by the chief justice. The court, approved the bail of the arrested accused against surety bonds worth Rs200,000.

In a separate case, the bench gave the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and K-Electric (K-E) four weeks’ time to sort out the issue of the payments to each other. In the case, the K-E seeks Rs1.2 billion from KMC over unpaid electricity bills, while the KMC seeks over Rs5 billion dues from the K-E.

The lawyer for the KMC informed the court that the mayor of Karachi had a meeting with K E chief executive and that further negotiations were ongoing to resolve the dispute. He expressed the hope that an amicable solution would be reached. On that, the court adjourned the hearing for four weeks.