Plea for harassment case against former CM dismissed

Dost Khosa moves criminal libel complaint.

LAHORE:

Proceedings on multiple petitions relating to the disappearance of Sapna Khan, ex-wife of former chief minister Dost Muhammad Khosa, continued on Saturday.

A judge dismissed a petition moved by Sapna’s brother, seeking a harassment case against Khosa and others, while another judge told the police to record Khosa’s complaint of criminal libel against Missal Khan, who claims to be Sapna’s father.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Azizullah dismissed Muhammad Ameen Khan’s application for a case against Khosa for allegedly threatening the family to press them to withdraw their petition claiming that the former chief minister abducted and killed Sapna.

The judge observed that the petitioner was required to approach the station house officer (SHO) or a senior police officer with his complaint before invoking the jurisdiction of the court, but he had not done so. The judge ruled that the petitioner had failed to make out a case for the issuance of a direction to the SHO for registration of a harassment case against the respondent.

The petitioner had said that on November 9, some men claiming to have been sent by Haider Bukhari and Rana Tanveer Ahmad, threatened to murder his father Missal Khan, if he did not withdraw the case against Khosa. He said after that, some suspicious looking men had been frequenting the street where he lived.

He had requested the court to pass an order for the registration of a criminal case against these men. His counsel, Advocate Azhar Siddique, told the court that the police were hesitant to register a case against Khosa due to his affiliation with the ruling party in Punjab.

Respondent’s counsel Advocate Zubair Khalid contended that the complaint against his client was false. He said a number of petitions filed against his client had been dismissed on merit. He said that Missal Khan was not her father and produced Nadra record in support of his claim.

Also on Saturday, Additional District and Sessions Judge Chaudhry Nazeer Ahmed directed the Race Course SHO to record Khosa’s statement of complaint against Missal Khan.

Khosa had moved a petition alleging that Khan had launched a “character-assassination campaign” against him. The petitioner said that Sapna was actually in Khan’s custody. He said Missal Khan was not actually her father and had produced a forged ID card to claim he was.

Missal Khan’s counsel said that Khosa’s petition was a ploy meant to delay court proceedings on his client’s petition seeking a murder case against the former chief minister.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the judge directed the petitioner to approach the police station concerned to record his complaint. He directed the SHO to investigate the matter as per the law.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2011.