The Islamabad inspector-general of police submitted a report submitted with the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday to maintain that action had been taken against 32 people involved in the harassment of 32 people.
During the hearing of the SC’s suo motu case concerning harassment of journalists, the submitted report stated that about 16 cases were registered with different police stations of Islamabad during the last one year.
“The person who attacked journalist Asad Ali Toor could not be identified by NADRA (National Database and Registration Authority). According to NADRA, the faces of those who attacked Absar Alam and Asad Ali Toor were not clear,” the report stated.
Investigative reports of 12 cases of the 16 cases had been submitted to the trial courts, the report further stated. The person who attacked journalist Absar Alam had not been identified yet, the report added.
It further added that the accused who harassed journalist Meher Bukhari was under investigation.
“At present, total four cases are under investigation and strenuous efforts are being made to trace out culprits Involved in the cases within shortest possible time and investigation will be concluded fairly, impartially and purely on merit,” it added.
It is pertinent to note that earlier in August, the SC had summoned the heads of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Islamabad police and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) in a case pertaining to the harassment of journalists.
A three-member bench of the top court, led by Justice Ijazul Ahsan, took up the suo motu case. The bench also summoned the attorney general and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) advocate general at the next hearing.
As per the details, the bench on August 20, directly entertained the Press Association of Supreme Court (PAS) application against harassment of media persons. The division bench had also summoned several government functionaries on August 26 before it.
The bench also sought a report from the IHC registrar regarding the status of pending cases of media persons. After issuing these directives, the top court adjourned the hearing of the case for two weeks.
