Daily Times

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday directed the police to ensure that the PTI leader and Imran Khan’s chief of staff Dr Shahbaz Gill was not tortured during custody. The PTI had approached the IHC against Gill’s remand extension. However, acting Chief Justice Amir Farooq asked the police to ensure the PTI leader’s safety, and did not issue orders for his release. Gill was taken into custody on August 9 from Banigala Chowk on charges of inciting mutiny among the public against the rank and file of the Pakistan Army by making some remarks during a TV programme.

The PTI contends that its leader was “tortured” during incarceration and that he was not medically fit to be remanded into police custody. The police insisted that he be given into their custody for further investigation. In the verdict, which was reserved earlier in the day, the court asked the federal government and interior secretary to appoint an officer for inquiring about Gill’s entire episode. The IHC also ordered that a retired judge should be appointed as an inquiry officer. The court said an SSP-rank officer should oversee how Gill was being treated during his remand and ensure he was not tortured. After listening to the arguments, the court reserved its judgment in the case, which it announced later.

At the outset of hearing, Advocate General Jadoon requested the court to take notice of a threatening statement of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan against the woman additional sessions judge. Shahbaz Gill’s counsel Shoaib Shaheen informed the court that a case had already been registered against Imran Khan due to the said statement under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the law would take its own course. Justice Farooq remarked that Imran Khan’s statement had no connection with the instant case.

The investigation officer told the court that accused Shahbaz Gill had given a controversial statement on a news channel through a landline number from the residence of PTI chairman in Banigala. He claimed that the accused had read the transcript of statement from his mobile phone, and the police had to recover the said phone. The police also wanted to have polygraph test of the accused. Special prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi adopted the stance that the police diaries could not be shared with the defence lawyers, and only the court could go through them. The defence lawyers could damage the evidence if they were given access to the diaries, he added. Rizwan Abbasi said 90 percent of the investigation was yet to be conducted.

Addressing Gill’s lawyer, the court said it was not the sole case of remand as it would have to hear a number of such cases in future. The court would have to ensure that no such precedent was set that might freeze the judicial system.

Gill’s counsel Suleman Safdar claimed that his client had been tortured. Torturing accused (during investigation) was a routine matter in the country, and the court should take notice on it, he pleaded. The lawyer also read out the contents of medical report of Shahbaz Gill. He claimed that the medical board had stated that there were some signs on the body of his client. He urged the court to summon the doctors and ask them in that regard.

He questioned why the police required more physical remand of his client as his mobile phone was already in their possession. First time in the country’s history any accused was given to the police custody again after being sent to jail on judicial remand, he said and prayed the court to set aside the decision of judicial magistrate for a two-day more physical remand of Shahbaz Gill. Hours before, a district and sessions court in Islamabad granted a two-day physical remand of Gill in the sedition case filed against him, after reviewing his medical report.

Gill was presented before the court earlier shortly after being discharged from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS). In a detailed report submitted to the IHC, inspector-general Islamabad Police rejected all the allegations levelled against the police and accused Gill of hampering the investigation. The report mentioned that as per jail authorities and experts statements at the PIMS hospital, no signs of torture were found on the body of the PTI leader.

“He was examined by three medical boards and was also given the opportunity for medical examination twice by the ICT administration when he was in jail but he refused this opportunity for unknown reasons,” the report read. The report mentioned that the allegations of physical, mental, and sexual torture in police or jail custody could not be “corroborated by any plausible evidence”. The conduct of Gill to date is not above board and he has put up a show to avoid the physical remand, the police report said. It added that the allegations, therefore, are frivolous and an attempt to hamper the police investigation.