Awkward mix-up: Arrest warrant issued for 15-month-old in wall-chalking case

The staff at the DPO’s office seemed to be clueless about the case.

GUJRAT:

In another befuddling case, a civil judge on Saturday issued an arrest warrant for a toddler, among others, for failing to appear in a hearing involving wall-chalking in Jalalpur Jattan during the 2013 parliamentary elections.

District Court Judge Muhammad Asif issued warrants for the arrest of 15-month-old Muhammad Ibrahim, PML-N MNA Nawabzada Mazhar Ali Khan, MPA Major (retd) Moin Nawaz and advisor to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Nawabzada Ghazanfar Ali Gul for violating the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rules regarding the prohibition of political graffiti.

Officials from the Saddar Jalalpur Jattan police station included these names in a report submitted to the court which detailed the violation of ECP orders in NA-104. The accused failed to show up at Saturday’s hearing, upon which Judge Asif issued the arrest warrants.

Father of baby Ibrahim, Constable Tasawwur said that District Police Officer (DPO) Gujrat Rai Ijaz Ahmed had assured him three months ago that the name of the toddler would be removed from the case.

Meanwhile, as the news was broadcast by the electronic media, Nawabzada Ghazanfar Ali Gul appeared in the court and was subsequently ordered to be presented at the next hearing on May 15.

The staff at the DPO’s office, however, seemed to be clueless about the case and was instead asking journalists for details.

Asked how a toddler could be accused of wall-chalking, DPO Ahmed said, “This incident took place a year ago. Last month, we wrote a letter to Civil Judge Farzana Farman to remove the name of the child from the report. Justice Farman was changed and transferred, and the new judge, Muhammad Asif, was not quite aware of the child’s age.”

He added that Judge Asif has been informed of the infant’s age and that the matter should be resolved immediately.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2014.