Investigation officer fails to submit police records in Khadija Shah case

LAHORE:

The Investigation Officer (IO) on Saturday failed to produce the case record related to the May 9 riots against Khadija Shah. The ATC duty judge scheduled the next hearing for November 13 and directed the IO to present the case record in the next hearing.

However, during today's hearing, the relevant judge was not present. The duty judge presided over the proceedings for post-arrest bail and was informed that the IO is engaged in other proceedings related to the May 9 case, and a report will be submitted by the next date.

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This was the last opportunity given to the IO to produce records in court, as the court had previously been informed of the IO's absence in hearings. In the next proceeding, the prosecutor requested the court to transfer the matter to the relevant court where the challan had been submitted for trial proceedings. The judge accepted the request and referred the post-arrest bail to the relevant court.

Case details

The special court was hearing the post-arrest bail of the petitioner, Khadija Shah, in an FIR registered against her for allegedly abetting arson in the Rahat Bakery case. The FIR emerged after a Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench, headed by Justice Aalia Neelum, granted post-arrest bail to Khadija in two other FIRs, one related to arson in Askari Tower and the second involving vandalism of Jinnah House.

However, a report from the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore revealed only two FIRs had been registered against her in response to the May 9 riots. As the division bench granted her post-arrest bail in the aforementioned two FIRs, she was again arrested in a third FIR registered against her for allegedly abetting arson in Rahat Bakery.

Also read FIA record summoned in Khadija Shah bail case

In response, Khadija filed contempt against police officials who, according to her, deceived the court by hiding the truth about the registration of FIRs. The contempt plea is still pending before Justice Ali Baqar Najafi.

In the last proceeding presided over by Justice Najafi, the Inspector General Police (IGP) Punjab, Dr. Usman Anwar, could not satisfy the court despite repeated queries by the Judge regarding her recent arrest in the third case.

The justice inquired about why the police waited for the court's final order on her bail, why she was not interrogated during custody, and who would guarantee that she would not be arrested in another case if granted bail in the third case.