Islamabad DC jailed for 6 months in contempt case

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday sentenced Deputy Commissioner (DC) Irfan Nawaz Memon to six months in prison in a contempt case pertaining to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Shehryar Afridi and Shandana Gulzar detention under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance.

IHC judge Justice Babar Sattar announced reserved verdict and sentenced Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon, Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations Jameel Zafar and Station House Officer (SHO) Naseer Manzoor of Kohsar Police for issuing orders for detaining PTI leaders under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance.

The court sentenced Islamabad DC to six months in prison, SSP to four months in prison and SHO for two months. All three of them have also been fined for Rs100,000 each.

Meanwhile, the IHC suspended the sentence of DC for a month and gave him time to file an appeal against the decision.

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. He was rearrested on May 30 under the same section soon after his release from prison.