Action against top cops: IHC seeks govt response on petition in 10 days

Petitioners defend decisions of IGP Aftab Cheema, SSP Nekokara .

ISLAMABAD:

A capital court on Thursday issued notices to the government seeking reply on a petition filed against the dismissal and suspension of two top officials of Islamabad police.

The petitions have been filed by four retired top police officers in the Islamabad High Court pleading reinstatement of former Inspector-General of Islamabad police (IGP) Aftab Ahmed Cheema and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Mohammad Ali Nekokara. They described the disciplinary actions against them illegal.

The IGP was suspended and the SSP dismissed from service for failing to use force against the protesters during the sit-ins by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek, last year.

Justice Athar Minallah issued pre-admission notices to the secretaries of interior and foreign affairs ministries, Establishment Division and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) director general seeking their response in 10 days. Former IGPs — Iftikhar Rashid, Afzal Shigri, Tariq Pervez and Shaukat Javed – through their counsel Babar Sattar challenged the government’s order.



The counsel argued that the choice before SSP Nekokara and IGP Cheema during the sit-ins was to exhibit allegiance to rule of law, and discharge their duties and exercise their authority as fiduciaries responsible to protect the citizens or allow secretary ministry of interior to usurp their authority and render their professional judgment and autonomy subservient to the will of the political regime.

Sattar argued that both the officials resolved to follow only legal orders, and refused to suspend professional judgment in acting to mechanically discharge any orders received from the government.

He contended that the two officials are being persecuted with the objective of making them an example and a strong deterrent for all officers of the police force who might have qualms about executing illegal orders and outsourcing their legal authority to the reigning political master.

In the backdrop of the Model Town incident on June 17, 2014, that claimed lives of citizens as a result of the clashes between the Punjab Police and PAT activists, and the rising political temperature in Islamabad, Nekokara sent a message to secretary interior saying he could not use force against the protesters.

Being SSP operations, Nekokara issued instructions to the police force on August 27, 2014 saying “you are directed not to use batten, teargas or live fire at the protesters without fulfilling the due legal process and the explicit directions of the undersigned.”

Notwithstanding the aforesaid communication by Nekokara, the protesters began moving towards the Presidency and Prime Minister’s House. The police were instructed to use force against the protesters, which resulted in the loss of two lives and injuries to protesters and citizens, the petition read.

Even while PML-N and the federal government might have had a partisan interest in using strong-arm measures to coerce and evict the protesters from Red Zone and Islamabad, Nekokara, Cheema and secretary interior being servants of the state and not the PML-N, were obliged to exercise the powers under law in a fair, just and reasonable manner to uphold the rights of all citizens, the petitioners argued.

They requested the court to declare that the officers of police service and the civil service more generally are under a solemn duty to exercise their authority and discretion through application of mind in view of relevant legal considerations, which excludes extraneous considerations such as courting the pleasure of the political party in control of the federal government.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 1^st, 2015.