Judge draws flak for refusing Armughan’s physical remand
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KARACHI:
An administrative judge drew SHC ire for refusing the physical remand of the main suspect in Mustafa Amir’s murder case.
Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday issued a short written order on the applications of the prosecutor general in the Mustafa Amir’s murder case.
A two-member Sindh High Court bench, led by Justice Zafar Rajput, issued a detailed verdict, ordering that Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Zakir Hussain be removed from his administrative role.
The seven-page written order has said that the administrative judge has exceeded his powers and issued illegal orders to form a JIT in the case on February 10.
The court found significant procedural violations, including improper handling of remand requests and unauthorized changes to official documents.
SHC bench said that the record shows that the investigation officer presented all the evidence to the administrative judge who rejected the physical remand on the complaint about the mistreatment to the accused.
The accused also complained to the court about police torture. On the court instructions, the shirt of the accused was removed in the courtroom. There were no signs of injury on upper part of the body of the accused.
However, according to the medical report, there were marks on the lower part of the accused’s body, forehead, ears and neck. The medical legal officer’s report did not determine whether those marks were the result of police torture.
The administrative judge gave verbal orders to the investigating officer for the medical examination of the accused.
The administrative judge had a proper procedure for the short remand of the accused. The administrative judge could have ordered a medical examination along with the police remand of the accused. After the evidence of torture in the medical report, action could have been taken against the investigating officer as per the law.
The managing judge ordered the physical remand of the accused. Later, the remand was covered with white fluid (whito) and the remand was changed to judicial custody.
The acting prosecutor general said that the father of the accused was present in the chamber of the managing judge at the time of remand. None of the parties had requested the formation of a joint interrogation team.
Prosecutor General Muntazar Mahdi, Additional Prosecutor General Iqbal Awan and Police Inspector Amir Iqbal had filed applications against Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Zakir Hussain.
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