PHC issues contempt notice to Sindh police chief, three other officers

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Friday issued contempt notices to Sindh inspector general of police and three other officers and sought their response to a petition of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Sindh president Haleem Adil Sheikh against his arrest by the provincial police despite the grant of a protective bail to him by the court.

Justice Shakeel Ahmad of a single-member bench examined the records produced by the petitioner’s lawyer, Mohammad Muazzam Butt, and decided to issue notices to Sindh IGP Raja Riffat Mukhtar, DIG of South Karachi police Irfan Baloch, Karachi SSP (operation) Sheraz Nazir Kolero and SHO of Karachi’s Ferozabad police station Ihsan Cheema.

The petitioner requested the court to initiate contempt proceedings against the respondents, including the IGP, under the law.

Mr Butt contended that the petitioner – a former leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly – approached the Peshawar High Court for transit bail in three cases registered against him in Karachi’s police stations.

Haleem Adil of PTI claims he was held despite court’s orders to the contrary

He added that two of those cases pertained to protests staged after May 9whose FIRs were registered in Karachi East district’s Ferozabad and Tipu Sultan police stations, respectively, on May 10. The other case was registered by the port city’s City Court police stationon May 7.

He contended that Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel of the high court accepted petition of Mr Adil on Aug 21, 2023, for pre-arrest transit bail on condition of furnishing two surety bonds of Rs80,000 each and directed him to surrender before the relevant court by Sept 4, 2023.

Mr Butt claimed that the Sindh police, in sheer disregard of the court’s orders, arrested the PTI leader on Aug 30 and produced him before the court concerned to get his physical custody but that request was declined in light of the transit bail granted by the high court to him.

He pointed out that earlier, a contempt petition was filed by the petitioner in the high court but it was turned down on Oct 2, 2023, on the ground that an additional advocate general claimed that the petitioner was arrested in a fresh case and not in the one wherein he was granted transit bail.

The counsel produced orders of Karachi courts and argued that the AAG didn’t “properly” assist the high court as the petitioner was actually arrested in the case registered by the Ferozabad police.

He added that those police officers had committed a blatant contempt of the high court as the petitioner was arrested despite having knowledge of the court’s orders to the contrary.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2024