No one to be safe if police do not follow law: PHC

PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Khan has remarked that the police must abide by the law, and if they do not follow the law, no one would be safe.

The police can make arrests and include sections for non-bailable warrants but they must act under the law, he said and added that the IGP had been summoned next week to ask him to explain what was going on.

The chief justice made these remarks during the hearing of a writ petition filed after the disappearance of a citizen, Noor Khan, from Hayatabad. The petitioner’s lawyer, and the SHOs of Hayatabad and Tatara police stations appeared in the court as the hearing began.

The petitioner’s lawyer told the court that his client Noor Khan is a resident of Iqbal Town, University Road, and has gone missing from Hayatabad. He said that when the police were contacted, they showed ignorance. He told the court that even the police did not know about his disappearance. “If the police did not pick up my client, who had made him disappear?”

Meanwhile, the chief justice said the IGP had been summoned next week and he would ask him what was happening. He said the police should not do so; otherwise, even their officers would not be to save them.

He said the police personnel had rendered countless sacrifices for the country and their sacrifices should not be forgotten. The court summoned the DSP and adjourned the hearing. The Hayatabad DSP appeared in the court after the break and told the court that Nur Khan had been recovered from Hasan Abdal and a suspect had also been arrested. The bench disposed of the case after the recovery of the missing citizen.