RAWALPINDI: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Wednesday dismissed the police plea seeking physical remand of Awami Muslim League (AML) chief and former Interior minister Sheikh Rashid and sent him to jail on judicial remand in a May 9 riots case.
Police produced former Interior minister before ATC Judge Malik Asif Ejaz for obtaining his physical remand. Police detained Rashid on January 16 following the court rejecting his bail application.
At the start of the hearing, police requested the court to grant physical remand of the accused to conduct a further investigation but the court rejected the police application and sent him to jail on a 14-day judicial remand.
According to two-page court orders, the investigation officer (IO) through the prosecutor has moved an application for the grant of physical remand for 30 days of the accused in a case registered at New Town police station for carrying out of photogrammetry test, sonographic test and for recoveries of laptop and cell phone of the accused.
It says that after taking into the custody of the accused, the record shows, the investigation officer has not made any progress, whatsoever, into the investigation. When no progress into the investigation has been made under Section 61 CrPC, the provisions of Section 167 CrPC cannot be benefited to seek physical remand of the accused, which means that to request physical remand of the accused under Section 167 CrPC, it is mandatory that the record shows some progress into the investigation during 24 hours obtained under Section 61 CrPC, which has not been done in this case.
The accused had already remained in the custody of the law enforcement agencies for 14 days and during that period his cell phone was taken into possession, it says.
The written order said that it has further been asserted from the accused side that even house of the accused was searched thoroughly and thereafter a seal was put to it and that also happened after registration of the instant case and therefore, the application for the aforesaid recoveries is not based on cogent reasons.
It says that a USB containing various speeches of the accused has been produced in the court. A transcript of the same is also available on record. The transcript was read over by the IO in the presence of the accused and the accused admitted that he had made such speeches but stated that the same were made in some other political perspective having no nexus with the case in hand.
The accused has owned the contents of the USB for which the photogrammetry test and sonographic test were to be conducted, therefore, there remains no justification for the conduction of any of the said tests, it says.
The court order says that the application for grant of physical remand of the accused is rejected. The accused is ordered to be lodged in the judicial lockup of Adiala Jail and be produced on January 31.
The court also approved Rashid’s plea seeking the provision of better class in jail.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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