Islamabad DC, SSP operations sentenced to prison for contempt of court

Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon of the federal capital, Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Jameel Zafar, and Station House Officer (SHO) Naseer Manzoor of Kohsar Police Station were all found guilty of contempt of court on Friday by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
Shehryar Afridi and Shandana Gulzar, leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), were ordered to be detained under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance, for which the authorities were punished.

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Islamabad DC was sentenced to six months in prison, SSP to four months, and SHO to two months by the court. Additionally, each of the three of them was fined Rs 100,000. The court allowed the DC time to file an appeal against the ruling while also suspending the punishment for a month.

In a contempt case involving the imprisonment of PTI leaders, the IHC accused DC Memon and three police officers, including SSP Zafar, on September 7, 2023. On August 16, the PTI leaders’ detention orders were revoked and their immediate release was mandated by the IHC.

Law enforcement detained both leaders on suspicion of being involved in the May 9 riots, which broke out following the detention of PTI chief Imran Khan earlier this year. DC Memon and SSP Zafar offered an unequivocal apology along with a not guilty plea to the allegations.

Nevertheless, the IHC denied the request for an unconditional pardon and subsequently mandated that DC Memon’s name be added to the no-fly list in order to prevent him from participating in the case’s proceedings.

In addition, he received a notice to show cause and was requested to respond to the absence from the meeting. On May 16, Afridi was originally taken into custody under Section 3 of the MPO Ordinance, 1960 from his home in Islamabad. On May 30, in spite of a release order, he was taken into custody again under the same section.

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On August 3, the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court granted bail to the PTI leader. But after being released from Adiala jail, he was not free for long as Rawalpindi police arrested him again. The former minister’s attorney had submitted a plea in the IHC following his detention, asking for both his release and the cancellation of the MPO order.