March 11, 2024
BILAL BASEER
ISLAMABAD
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Qazi Faez Isa, expressed concern on Monday over discrepancies found in the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Cyber Crime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). He said that the inconsistencies have led to an impression that the actions taken against journalist Asad Ali Toor were influenced by the judiciary.
During a suo motu case hearing pertaining to the harassment of journalists by FIA, the CJP expressed that the cybercrime wing of FIA summoned Toor as part of the Joint Investigation Team’s (JIT) probe into the anti-judiciary campaign, but the FIR registered against Toor failed to even mention any smear campaign against the country’s judiciary.
As per details, on January 17, the then-caretaker government formed a JIT to ascertain the facts behind a malicious social media campaign against the SC judges after the apex court gave a verdict on the election symbol of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The court, however, had then taken notice of the FIA’s summons sent to various journalists and barred the agency from taking action against people over their criticism directed towards the apex court.
On February 23, Toor was summoned by the Cyber Crime Wing (CCW) of FIA Islamabad at 11am for interrogation regarding a malicious social media campaign against the judiciary following the Supreme Court’s decision to deprive the PTI of its party symbol. Three days later, on February 26, the journalist was arrested and remanded to FIA custody for five days.
On the second hearing, the court of judicial magistrate extended Toor’s remand for two more days. Further, on March 8, Judicial Magistrate Shabbir Bhatti sent the journalist to the Adiala jail on a 14-day judicial remand and rejected the FIA’s plea seeking a four-day extension in physical remand.
During the hearing on Monday, March 11, Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed, representing the Press Association of the Supreme Court (PAS) and the Islamabad High Court Journalists Association (IHCJA), informed the court that Toor was currently in jail with an FIR lodged against him.
CJP questioned, “Why is he in jail?”
Ahmed responded by citing an FIR registered against Toor and urged the court to declare the government’s notification regarding the constitution of the JIT as null and void.
CJP then asked the FIA officer how the provisions under which Toor was booked were justified. “Does the FIA have any well-educated individual within its ranks?” the CJP asked, suggesting the institution get someone to translate the law in Urdu. “Did we, the judiciary, complain to you against any journalist? Did you issue notices to journalists in our names? Are you using us to get your work done?” CJP further asked.
CJP also questioned the applicability and relevancy of the charges included in the FIR registered against Toor, including those pertaining to the “sensitive information”.
CJP Isa asked, taking the FIA officer to task over not mentioning the anti-judiciary campaign in the FIR when the summons issued to Toor were regarding running a campaign against the judiciary. “You have used the judiciary to get your work done,” he asserted.
Ahmed informed the court that the JIT to probe the allegations against the journalists was formed before the registration of the cases.
CJP then inquired why an officer from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was part of the JIT, as the intelligence agency is not a law enforcement agency. “The officials of FIA are bringing disrepute to the judiciary,” he observed while lamenting the prospects of the judiciary’s image being tarnished before the public.
“Why shouldn’t we send a notice to the FIA for contempt of court?” he said.
The top judge also censured Inspector General Police (IGP) Islamabad for his failure to report any progress and apprehend culprits. “You weren’t able to trace the accused despite the video evidence? It has been four years how much time do you need?” CJP lamented.