Imaan and Hadi's arrest: ATC judge irked over IO's absence, police failure to present case record
ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday expressed strong displeasure over the absence of the investigating officer (IO) and the police’s failure to produce the case record during the hearing of bail petitions filed by lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha in a protest-related case. ATC Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain summoned the deputy superintendent…
An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad felt frustrated on Monday over the absence of the investigating officer (IO) and the police's failure to provide the case record during the bail hearing for lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha. The court's judge, Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain, reprimanded the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) for not being more assertive in obtaining the necessary evidence.
The DSP later informed the court that the IO was in Gilgit-Baltistan, but the judge demanded the original document rather than a printout from a WhatsApp message. If the required record was not provided, the judge threatened to send both the DSP and Superintendent of Police to jail for six months. The judge also criticized the lack of a proper judicial enforcement mechanism and ordered the security head to prevent the DSP from leaving the courtroom without permission.
The defense lawyers argued that the FIR contained only bailable offenses, but the prosecution maintained that the investigation record was unavailable due to the IO's absence. The hearing was eventually adjourned until October 13.
Written by urgent.news from Dawn - Pakistan's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
