PHC rejects minister was ‘terrorised’

PHC advised K-P Minister for Social Welfare to resolve a minor dispute between two women.

PESHAWAR:

Peshawar High Court (PHC) has advised K-P Minister for Social Welfare Sitara Ayaz to resolve her dispute with a subordinate through a jirga, terming it a minor issue between two women.

PHC Chief Justice (CJ) Justice Dost Muhammad Khan was hearing a case filed by Ayaz, who used her influence to charge Superintendent Social Welfare Tahira Naveed under 7-Anti-Terrorism Act and kept her confined in a police lock-up for sending her threatening text messages. He advised their lawyers to help mediate between them.

A lower court had already acquitted Naveed of the charges and ordered the police to drop the terrorism charge against her, as the case did not fall in the purview of terrorism. Naveed said she had been kept in illegal detention for three days in the Police Station East.

“I have spent three days in jail, can the minister endure imprisonment for even three hours?” Naveed said the minister was making women suffer instead of working for their welfare. “The minister charged me due to my refusal to become part of her scams,” she alleged.

“I can show you a few messages on my mobile and if you read them, you would ask me why I don’t investigate them,” the CJ remarked. SHO Police Station East has sought time for hiring the services of a counsel.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th, 2012.