Punjab IGP will be responsible if any judge harassed: LHC

Lahore High Court (LHC) judge Justice Shahid Karim made it clear on Thursday that if any incident of harassment of a judge was reported from anywhere in Punjab, the provincial Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr. Usman Anwar would be responsible for that, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

During the hearing of a contempt of court case against DPO Sargodha and other police officers in Sargodha’s anti-terrorism court (ATC) judge harassment case, Justice Karim said he was converting the petition filed by the ATC superintendent into a writ petition so that instructions could be given to concerned departments as per law.

The judge said that a procedure would be laid down in the court order for a police official’s meeting with a judge.

He went on to say that since Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was the chief executive of the country and premier intelligence agencies, ISI and IB, were subordinate to him, therefore, he should take it upon himself to ensure that judges were not harassed.

Additional Attorney General (AAG) Nasar Ahmad Mirza and Deputy Attorney General Asad Ali appeared in the court on behalf of the federal government, while an assistant advocate general represented the Punjab government.  

On the occasion, the replies given by the DPO and other police officers to the show-cause notices issued to them were submitted to the court.

AAG told the court that while the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) was investigating the incident, the judge as well as members of the court staff were not cooperating.

However, he said the government was ready to probe the incident and extend maximum cooperation.

The LHC adjourned the case’s hearing until the second week of July.

Reporter: Malik Ashraf