Harassment: LHC bars police from raiding family home

Judge says police do not have the right to harass the family of an accused.

Justice Abdul Sami Khan of the Lahore High Court on Monday expressed displeasure at police behaviour in the search for a wanted man and told them to stop harassing his family.

Advocate Ishtiaq Ahmad, representing petitioner Muhammad Fayaz Ahmad, submitted that his client’s son, Muhammad Awais, was wanted by police in various cases. He said that when Ahmad learned of his son’s alleged criminal activities, he disinherited him and turned him out of his house in Garhi Shahu. But Garhi Shahu SHO Shahid Ali Gujjar and Racecourse investigation head Ashfaq Butt had led several raids at the house and humiliated the petitioner’s daughters, wife and other family members, he said.

The petitioner said that he had told the police that he had broken ties with his son, but the police were not listening to him and had demanded bribes to stop the raids. Fayaz Ahmad said he had moved applications to senior police officials on the matter but still not been heard. He asked the court to restrain the police from raiding his house and threatening his family.

Justice Abdul Sami Khan heard the initial arguments and observed that the police were not allowed to harass the family members of any accused. The judge restrained the police from raiding the petitioner’s house in order to arrest Awais.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2013.