CJP says, ‘want independent police force’

Justice Nisar asks, ‘Why was DPO asked to visit Maneka house to apologise?’

Justice Ahsan says, ‘Will not tolerate political interference’

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Friday summoned Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Imran’s former husband Khawar Maneka and his son Ibrahim Maneka on September 3.

The father-son duo was directed to appear before the court in a suo motu case involving the controversial transfer of former Pakpattan district police officer (DPO) Rizwan Umar Gondal.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) headed by the top judge heard the case.

The top judge remarked, “We will see how transfers are made through exerting pressure”.

During the hearing, the CJP also said, “What is this case? For the past five days, the whole nation has been discussing it.”

“I keep repeating this, we want an independent police force,” he added.

Justice Nisar also asked about the whereabouts of Khawar Maneka, the first lady’s former husband, and Ahsan Jameel Gujjar.

Moreover, The CJP also directed Gujjar, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Shehzada Sultan, Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar’s personal secretary (PS) and the Punjab CM’s chief security officer (CSO) to appear before the court on Monday.

Former DPO Gondal and the regional police officer (RPO) concerned were also directed to submit affidavits pertaining to the case in the apex court.

The court also directed the Punjab IGP to ensure that all those who have been summoned appear before the court.

“If the transfer was made on the request of the chief minister or the person sitting next to him then this is not right,” the CJP observed.

Justice Nisar further questioned, “Why was the DPO asked to visit Maneka’s house to apologise and why was he transferred at 1 am?”

Moreover, Justice Ijazul Ahsan said, “We will not tolerate political interference or influence.”

The bench also directed authorities concerned to submit a report on the matter. The inquiry report has reportedly already been forwarded to the Punjab IGP.

On the other hand, during the hearing, Gondal said that he had sent a WhatsApp message to the Punjab IGP detailing the events of the incident.

“On the day of the incident I received a phone call instructing me to reach CM House by 10pm,” he was quoted as saying.

“When I reached there, the Punjab CM introduced Ahsan Jameel as his brother,” the DPO was further quoted as saying.

He futher said, “Ahsan Jameel asked me about the Maneka family and said there seems to be a conspiracy against them.”

“At 12:30am, the RPO was informed about the transfer,” he added.

Former DPO Gondal is responsible for not conducting an inquiry or taking action against officers who misbehaved with Bushra Imran’s former husband Maneka, according to the inquiry report.

Moreover, the inquiry report also states that the former DPO ‘twisted’ the facts of the matter and then shared it on social media.

The incident

Khawar Maneka had allegedly lost his cool and reportedly abused police officers when they intercepted his car around 1 am on August 23.

After news of the senior police officer’s ‘transfer’ had gone viral on social media and drew people’s ire, Punjab IGP Kaleem Imam in a statement had denied that DPO Gondal was removed from his post due to pressure from ‘certain quarters’.

“Gondal was removed for misreporting an incident in which police officials misbehaved with a citizen,” the IGP had said in his statement.

The police chief, however, had not mentioned whether the citizen was Maneka or someone else.

IGP Imam had further stated that an inquiry had been initiated against Gondal for allegedly misrepresenting the notification of his transfer on social media.