The suspect’s twin brother had appeared before the court and not the suspect himself. PHOTO: FILE
A judge did not sign pre-arrest bail orders of a suspect, whose bail he had approved on Tuesday, after he was told that the suspect’s twin brother had appeared before the court and not the suspect himself.
The Islampura police told Additional District & Sessions Judge Muhammad Nadeem Shaukat that the suspect had been in their custody at the time the bail petition was being heard.
On Wednesday, Advocate Muhammad Irfan Mukhtar, counsel for the complainant, informed the judge of the ‘mix-up’ and said that pre-arrest bail could not be granted to a suspect in custody. Mukhtar also said that the thumb impression taken on the order sheet was not that of the suspect, Mohammad Nadeem.
The Islampura police also presented its record before the court, according to which Muhammad Nadeem was arrested on April 9 at 10 am.
According to the court record, the pre-arrest bail was applied for at 2 pm.
The investigation officer (IO) told the court that he suspected that Nadeem’s twin brother, Mohammad Waseem, had appeared before the court to apply for bail.
Waseem has not yet been arrested, the court was told.
Advocate Mukhtar submitted two applications: one seeking registration of a case against ASI Asif Durrani, suspect Muhammad Nadeem, Nadeem’s impersonator for cheating the court and staffers who had issued a fake robkar (warrant), and the second asking that the thumb impression taken on the order sheet be cross-checked with that of Nadeem. The judge directed the investigation officer to submit the forensic report by April 23.
The judge also dismissed the bail application and sought a report from court reader and ahalmad (record keeper) of the court by April 23.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 11th, 2013.
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