KARACHI: On the orders of the federal authorities, the management board of Quaid-e-Azam mausoleum has approached a court in Karachi against the Sindh Police’s recommendation to declare a case against PML-N leader retired Capt Safdar Awan pertaining to the alleged violation of the sanctity of Jinnah’s mausoleum.
The management board also sought action against Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Maryam Nawaz and Capt Muhammad Safdar (retd) for chanting slogans at the mausoleum of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the metropolis on October 19.
Safdar, who is the husband of PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, was arrested by police on October 19 from a hotel where the couple was staying during their visit to Karachi for the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement’s public gathering held in the metropolis a day earlier. Later, he was granted bail by a magistrate’s court against a surety of Rs100, 000.
According to the FIR, Safdar, Maryam and a cohort of their supporters violated the sanctity of the Quaid’s mausoleum by creating a ruckus and chanting fiery political slogans inside. They were also accused of intimidating people.
Earlier this week, the investigating officer (IO) of the case had filed an amended charge-sheet with the judicial magistrate, concluding that neither the complainant of the FIR, Waqas Khan had joined the investigation nor was the veracity of his claims established during the probe, which showed that he was not present at the mausoleum when the alleged offense took place.
On Friday, the federal government jumped into the matter, with an assistant attorney general filing an application with the court on behalf of Ghulam Akbar Memon, an officer of the Mazar-e-Quaid Management Board.
He sought the court’s direction for the IO to collect evidence from the media and social media against the suspects, as “this is a matter of grave violation of the sanctity of the tomb/shrine/Mazar-e-Quaid.
The federal law officer Muhammad Ahmed argued that the violation of the sanctity of the founder of the nation’s grave was a sin/transgression in the Shariah, and “is not a political issue”.
He argued that the (incumbent) magistrate is competent to take cognizance of an offense, if upon considering not only the investigation report filed under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) but also material collected during the investigation they come to the conclusion that a cognizable offense has been made out.
The federal attorney argued that the film or video footage of the offence had gone viral on local and international media, which was objectionable and answerable by the state.
The negative CDR report of the mobile phone of the complainant (Waqas Khan) did not make a valid ground, as he was not present at the place of occurrence of the alleged offence, but under the law, any person could lodge a complaint and could inform the local police about an offence, he added.
The federal law officer argued that under Article 164 of the Qanoon-e-Shahadat Ordinance, 1984, the production of evidence had become available because of modern devices and in such cases, the court may allow the production of such evidence that may be possible because of the availability of modern devices or technology.
Moreover, the counsel contended that Article 227 of the above-mentioned Ordinance’s provisions relating to the Holy Quran and Sunnah was very clear about the sanctity of a grave, in accordance with the Shariah and Holy Quran/Hadith.
He appealed that an investigation under the Criminal Procedure Code must be completed without unnecessary delay, praying the court to direct the IO of the case to submit a charge-sheet against the nominated suspects.
