IHC CJ annoyed with police for harassing innocent lawyers

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Athar Minallah Friday expressed annoyance with the police for harassing innocent lawyers and sought a detailed report in this regard.

The chief justice instructed the police that innocent lawyers must not be harassed in the wake of attack on the IHC building. Justice Minallah asked why the police were raiding the houses of even those lawyers who had nothing to do with the incident.

Jawad Nazir Advocate informed the court that the police had raided his office last day despite the fact that he neither attended the protest nor supported it instead he had condemned the incident.

Justice Athar said he had come to know that the house of Aleem Abbasi Advocate had also been raided when he was not part of the protest and his role had been positive.

The chief justice said he knew many things but could not share them at this time. The court summoned the deputy commissioner and SSP Operations to justify the raids. After recession, Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqat and SSP Operations Mustafa Tanvir appeared before the court.

The chief justice expressed displeasure with the officials and asked who was committing such illegality. He said the court had not interfered in the working of police, but it won’t allow anyone to play such games.

He asked at to who was harassing the innocent and professional lawyers. “The court needs action against those who did not arrest the real accused but were harassing innocents. The court directed both the officers to conduct an inquiry and fix responsibility.