IHC directs Shahzad Akbar to submit report on police’s performance

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has directed the PM’s special assistant Shahzad Akbar to submit a report on the poor standard of the federal police’s investigation process and submit it to Prime Minister Imran Khan within two weeks.

According to the court ruling, the High Court further directed the Special Assistant on Accountability to submit a detailed report on the matter in the IHC within three weeks.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the mother of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Joint Director Sajid Gondal that sought recovery of her son.

Shahzad Akbar, along with Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafaat, IG Islamabad, and interior secretary, appeared before IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah.

During the court proceedings, Justice Minallah said that despite a court ruling, there was no prosecution branch in Islamabad. “The federal capital should have been a model city, but the standard of the police investigation is extremely poor,” he remarked.

He further said that the court verdicts are based upon police investigation. “Many suspects are acquitted due to poor investigation by the police and the courts are deemed responsible,” he added.

Later, Shahzad Akbar told the court that the matter of missing persons had been brought to the cabinet’s notice. “A sub-committee has been formed in this regard,” he added. He agreed that there should be an independent prosecution branch in the capital.

The petitioner’s counsel Barrister Jahangir Jadoon told the court that the authorities have yet to ascertain who was behind Gondal’s disappearance. In this regard, Athar Minallah said, “This is a matter under investigation, the law will take its own course.”