LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday directed all the session judges and special courts to complete the identification parade process of suspects involved in May 9 riots within the next 48 hours.
A single-member bench of LHC, comprising Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh issued a 13-page verdict on a plea filed by a citizen, who has been in prison since May 25 against delay in the identification process by the lower judiciary of the province.
The judgment reads: “The delay in the identification process of the suspects has restricted the citizen right of freedom as every human being enjoys the right to live freely”. The court observed that people cannot differentiate between the arrests before the charges or after the charges; the LHC declared the arrest should be made after availing ‘concrete evidence.’
The Court gave remarks that “International human rights bodies have also raised reservations over arrest before the commencement of trial.” The LHC termed the identification process of the suspects ‘ineffective’ and said in its judgment that delay in the identification parade is against the basic human rights and fair trial. The court also underlined the need to review the steps of the administration by the constitutional courts of the country.
