SC warns of suo motu notice if Punjab police fail to register FIR of attack on Imran in 24 hours

Islamabad: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday ordered the Punjab police chief, Faisal Shahkar to register a first information report (FIR) of the gun attack on PTI Chairman Imran Khan within 24 hours.

Khan was wounded during a gun attack while leading the party’s long march in Punjab’s Wazirabad on November 3. A PTI supporter, Muazzam Nawaz, was killed in the incident while 14 others, including Imran, were wounded.

The matter was raised at the hearing of a contempt plea filed by the interior ministry against Imran for allegedly flouting a May 25 order of the apex court that defined the limits for the party’s ‘Azadi March’ gathering in Islamabad at the time.

A five-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Mazahar Akbar Naqvi, heard the plea.

During the hearing, CJP Bandial warned of taking suo motu notice if the FIR of the attack was not registered.

He also asked the IGP, who joined the hearing from the SC’s Lahore registry via video link, why the FIR was not registered.

“Tell us when the FIR will be registered,” he said, adding that there should be a concrete reason for not registering the FIR.

CJP Bandial observed that it had been 90 hours since the attack but the FIR had not yet been registered.

“How will an investigation be initiated without it? And without an FIR, even evidence can be altered,” he added.

IG Shahkar, who has already written to the federal government to transfer him from Punjab as he refused to work with the current political setup in the province, informed the court that “we have spoken to the Punjab CM regarding the registration of the FIR and he has expressed some reservations”.

He further said a FIR should also be registered on the complaint of the heirs of the man who was killed in the incident.

Shahkar remarked that Punjab had seen “eight IG’s being replaced in four years”.

At that, the CJP remarked, “Don’t tell us what options the police have […] the criminal justice system and delivery of justice is our topmost priority.

“Work according to the law, the court is with you,” the CJP told the IG.

The CJP then directed Shahkar to probe the matter, assuring him that nobody would interfere in his work till the time he was posted as the IG.

“IG sahib, you do your job. If someone interferes, the court will interfere in their work,” he said.

Warning of taking a suo motu notice if the FIR was not registered, the CJP said, “IG sahib, you will be answerable in the sou motu notice.

“There was an attempt to kill a national leader, realise the sensitivity of the matter. Investigate, collect evidence and get a forensic [analysis] conducted.”