ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has declared Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon as guilty of contempt of court and awarded him six-month imprisonment and Rs100,000 fine.
Pronouncing its verdict on Friday, the court also found Islamabad police’s SSP Operations Jamil Zafar also guilty and sent him to prison for four months and slapped with a fine of Rs100,000.
A single bench of IHC comprising Justice Babar Sattar also awarded two-month prison sentence and Rs100,000 fine to SHO Nasir Manzoor.
IHC’s Justice Sabar Sattar, however, suspended the jail sentence of the deputy commissioner, saying he is being given a chance to file an appeal against the court verdict. “The deputy commissioner will be arrested if his sentence was not suspended by filing an appeal in 30 days,” the judge remarked.
In reaction, Islamabad police officers will challenge the IHC verdict, arguing that they and the deputy commissioner used their powers as per law to maintain law and order.
They said that all are equal before the law and they will take next step in accordance with the law. The police officers will continue to work until final decision of the court.
On the last hearing, the court had reserved the verdict in the contempt of court case, saying it will be announced on Friday, directing the accused to be present on that day, dismissing the plea for exemption from appearance.
In September last year, the IHC had restrained the deputy commissioner from issuing MPO orders for an indefinite period. Justice Babar Sattar had ruled that the Islamabad DC cannot use the powers of Section 3 of MPO for an indefinite period.
The order was issued during the hearing of a petition against the detention of PTI leaders Shehryar Afridi and Shandana Gulzar.
Islamabad DC challenges six-month-jail sentence in IHC
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon on Friday challenged the six-month jail sentence awarded in contempt of court case by Islamabad High Court (IHC).
As per details, the intra-court appeal was filed in Islamabad High Court challenging the single-bench verdict.
The appeal urged the court to declare the verdict null and void and acquit Deputy Commissioner Irfan Memon from the contempt case. The IHC single-bench verdict was also challenged by SSP operations Malik Jameel Zafar.
Earlier in the day, the court ruled that DC Irfan Nawaz Memon has been held guilty of misconduct for taking actions that were beyond his authority.
Moreover, the Islamabad police SSP (operations) was sentenced to four-month imprisonment besides a fine of Rs100,000. However, the Saddar SP was acquitted of the contempt of court charges. SHO Nasir Manzoor was also sent to jail for two months and fined Rs100,000.
Last year in August, IHC suspended PTI leader Shehryar Afridi’s arrest warrants under maintenance of public order (MPO) and ordered his immediate release.
On September 7, 2023, the IHC had indicted Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) operations Jamil Zafar, Superintendent (SP) Farooq Buttar and Station House Officer (SHO) Nasir Manzoor while presiding over the hearing of the case.
DC Memon and SSP Zafar pleaded not guilty to the charges and also apologised unconditionally to the court. The court also indicted SP Farooq Buttar and SHO Naseer Manzoor with contempt of court, however, both denied the charges.
Afridi was first arrested on May 16 from his Islamabad residence under Section 3 of the MPO Ordinance, 1960.
