By IANS
Islamabad : The Pakistan Supreme Court has retracted its Oct 1 order suspending three police and administration officials involved in using force against journalists, lawyers and civil society activists during a demonstration the previous month, saying the issue should be settled departmentally.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar hearing the appeal of the officials Wednesday referred the issue to officials to the concerned departments for a settlement.
Deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had ordered the suspension of Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ali, Inspector General of Police Moravet Ali Shah and senior superintendent of police Naeem Khan after holding them responsible for the use of force at the Sep 29 demonstration.
The protestors were objecting to President Pervez Musharraf’s eligibility to run for a second term at the Oct 6 presidential election. Musharraf had swept the polls.
On Wednesday, Attorney General Malik Muhammad Qayyum submitted before the bench that if an enquiry against a suspended government official was not conducted within two months, the suspension order was deemed to have lapsed.
“He further contended that during the three-month suspension of these officials, no departmental enquiry was conducted against these officials except the formation of a fact-finding committee to probe the incident. However, he said that the said committee was unable to give its findings,” The News reported Thursday.
The attorney general said the government wanted to restore the officials but could not do so due to the court’s order. The bench then asked him why the officials were suspended and Qayyum said it was because of the court order.
The court then retracted the Oct 1 order.
Chaudhry had taken suo moto notice on a complaint filed by the Supreme Court registrar of the Sep 29 police brutality that left over 70 lawyers, journalists and civil society members injured.
Riot police, plainclothesmen and personnel of the anti-terrorist squad also beat up a number of journalists covering the demonstration.
The baton-charge had began minutes after then prime minister Shaukat Aziz, one of those who proposed Musharraf’s candidature, entered the Election Commission building and intensified when he was about to leave the place.
Chaudhry and the entire 19-member Supreme Court bench were sacked when they refused to take fresh oath after Musharraf imposed an emergency on Nov 3.