The lawyers’ counsel Ahsan Bhoon says that many innocent lawyers were arrested and subjected to torture in PIC attack and were produced before the ATC with veils over their heads and faces.
LAHORE: (Urdu Point/Pakistan Point News-Dec 18th, 2019) The Lahore High Court on Wednesday summoned Punjab Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and Inspector General of Police (IGP) for “reckless arrest of lawyers and torture on them by the police in Punjab Institute of Cardiology attack case.
A division bench headed by Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi passed the order while hearing couple of petitions on PIC attack case.
“Those who committed sin of attacking the hospital would be prosecuted and those who had not been involved must not be prosecuted,” the bench observed while taking up the matter. Pakistan Bar Council member and senior lawyer Ahsan Bhoon appeared before the court and argued that the arrested lawyers were subjected to torture by police, and their faces were covered with black veils when they were produced before the anti-terrorism courts for remand. He said it caused humiliation for lawyers’ community.
The counsel said that those innocent who had been sitting at Race Course Park were also taken into custody. At this, the bench observed that those who had not been involved in attacking hospital would not be prosecuted.
“We have apologized before the public over this tragic incident,” said Ahsan Bhoon.
An Anti-Terrorism Court sent around 26 lawyers to jail on judicial remand over charges of attacking cardiac hospital and hooliganism in and outside Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC).
Later, talking to the reporters, Supreme Court Bar Association Vice-President Ghulam Murtaza Chaudhry and Advocate Zaheer Anayat Malik said that police presented eight lawyers but failed to provide any investigation report before the court.
The police sought physical remand of the accused lawyers. However, the court rejected the physical remand of lawyers, and granted judicial remand.
Last week, the lawyers attacked Punjab Institute of Cardiology, caused damage to the machinery and medical equipment inside the hospital beside torturing the doctors and paramedical staff in revenge of a video about their defeat in legal fight against the doctors.
