ASJ ‘instructions’ in ninth class girl kidnapping case

Judicial magistrate reviews his orders of suspects’ physical remand

By Ikram Junaidi

ISLAMABAD: Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Muhammad Akmal Khan on Tuesday changed the orders of the judicial magistrate verbally and allegedly instructed him to once again call the suspects and review physical remand in ninth class girl kidnapping case in which an influential political personality is involved.

On ASJ instruction judicial magistrate called the suspects at his house and changed his own orders, which is a unique example in judicial history. According to lawyers judicial magistrate had clearly violated the law while reviewing his own orders. According to sources, Islam Shah son of Wali Jan lodged a First Information Report (FIR) vide No 182 under section 365 with Aabpara police on May 3, stating that his niece, a resident of sector G-6/2, Islamabad was kidnapped.

Police came to know that Tahir Mehmood, an employee of Auqaf Department housed in Evacuee Trust building, along with some other persons had allegedly kidnapped the girl and shifted her to Qaiser Amin Butt’s “Dera”.

Butt is former Member of Punjab Assembly and former advisor to Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi. The former MPA though admitted that girl was with him but he refused to hand her over to the parents.

Later on after recording statement, police arrested Sheikh Asghar and Lal Khan (relatives of Mehmood) on May 23 for their alleged involvement in kidnapping and on Tuesday produced them in the court of Judicial Magistrate Malik Naeem Shaukat. According to documents obtained by this scribe, the magistrate heard the case and issued orders of four days (from May 24 to May 28) physical remand of both suspects and handed over them to the police.

After an hour the ASJ demanded file of the case through his reader and instructed police to produce the suspects in his court. He asked whether the police detained both the persons. Police informed him that before arresting both the persons all the legal requirements were fulfilled. The ASJ disposed of the hand written petition filed by the suspects, but instructed judicial magistrate to review his decision and pass a fresh order. (Copy of order is available with Daily Times).

As court time was over and Judicial Magistrate Malik Naeem Shaukat had gone to his house located in the limits of Shalimar Police Station, it was decided to send the suspects and police to his house but advocates from both sides were not allowed to participate in the hearing.

The magistrate rewired his own orders and reduced physical remand from four days to one day.

Sources said it was a unique example in Islamabad district court in which over 30,000 cases are pending and due to work load judges have no time to listen to those cases but due to unknown reasons not only ASJ conducted hearing within one hour but also after that Judicial Magistrate conducted hearing in his house and reduced physical remand from four days to one day.

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