Justices Saqib Nisar and Azmat Saeed of the Supreme Court snubbed Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) Superintendent (SP) Umar Virk on Thursday for failing to produce an alleged rapist before a magistrate.
The bench was hearing a suo motu notice regarding the failure of the police to arrest a man suspected of raping a child one year ago. Advocate General Hanif Khattana and SP Virk submitted a report. Virk said Railways Police had caught the man while he was trying to abduct a child.
He said he had also confessed to kidnapping another child on September 12, 2014. Virk said he had dumped her near Ganga Ram Hospital after raping her. He said the man had confessed to raping another child in Ghaziabad.
The judges asked whether he had been produced before a magistrate to record his confession under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Court. Virk said he had obtained his physical remand but he had not been handed over to a joint investigation team.
The SP’s reply irked the judges. Justice Nasir said apparently no effort had been made to bring the man’s statement on record before a magistrate. He said a confession obtained in police custody had no value in the eyes of the law. Justice Nisar said he would not tolerate any attempt to hinder the proceedings and would supervise them. They directed Virk to produce the man before a magistrate and submit a challan at a trial court in one month.
The hearing will resume after one month.
‘Belligerent’ lawyer allowed to practice in Supreme Court, district courts
Justice Jawad S Khwaja of the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Advocate Pervez I Mir, a lawyer accused of misbehaving with a woman judge of the Lahore High Court, to practice law in the Supreme Court and district courts. He also asked the PBC to respond to a reference filed against the lawyer within a week.
Justice Khwaja was heading a three-member bench that was hearing Advocate Mir’s plea against his conviction on contempt of court charges.
A full bench of the Lahore High Court had earlier suspended Mir’s licence to practice law for allegedly misbehaving with Justice Ayesha A Malik. The bench had also sent a reference against him to Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) for further action.
Barrister Zafarullah Khan, representing Advocate Mir, said the suspension of his licence was a violation of the Contempt of Court Act, 2003. He said the PBC had not taken a decision on the reference forwarded by the court.
Barrister Khan said legal practice was the appellant’s only source of income and he had suffered mental agony and financial loss due to the suspension of his licence.
Justice Khwaja observed that one should face difficult times with patience. Quoting his own example, he said for 14 months, the walls of courts in Islamabad had been plastered with banners and posters carrying insulting remarks against him. “I also received death threats but never lost my composure... I stayed patient,” Justice Khwaja said.
The judge allowed Advocate Mir to practice law in the Supreme Court and district courts. He adjourned hearing till October 20 and directed the PBC’s disciplinary committee to decide the reference in a week.
Advocate Mir had earlier misbehaved with Justice Ayesha A Malik of the LHC during the hearing of a petition regarding illegal possession of government land. Muhammad Arif, the petitioner, was accused of occupying official government residence, A-42 in Wahdat Colony, Lahore, and had been served several vacation notices by a special judicial magistrate of the Punjab Civil Secretariat in Lahore. During the course of hearing, the advocate allegedly misbehaved and used contemptuous language.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 10th, 2014.
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