' A very serious incident of rowdyism had taken place on 28-11-1997 in and around the premises of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Islamabad. The Hon'ble Chief Justice of Pakistan by order dated 15- 12-1997 appointed one of us (Abdur Rehman Khan, J.) to hold an inquiry for the following purposes:- - "(1) examine what steps the Federal Government has taken against the persons responsible for the incident on 28-11-1997 at the Supreme Court premises and at what level investigation is being carried out as also the stage of investigation; and also to examine the various communications/information's which have been received by this Court from the various sources including the members of public;
(2) to suggest what steps/actions the Supreme Court should take/initiate in the above matter and for avoiding such incidents in future."
2. The inquiry was conducted and Report dated 18-2-1998 was submitted to the Hon'ble Chief Justice inter alia making the following observations:-- "(A) The Federal Government on 28-11-1997 appointed Chief Commissioner, Islamabad Capital Territory, to hold inquiry into rowdyism in and around the Supreme Court Building. The Chief Commissioner has completed the inquiry and has sent his report to the Federal Government. A copy of the report was also supplied to the Registrar of this Court. I have referred to the salient features of the report in the above paras. And have also reproduced some of its relevant portions in verbatim. It is disclosed in this report that action has been taken against a few police officers and Magistrate for their sluggish and casual attitude in the hours of their duty on the day in question. But as for the action against the persons responsible for the incident on 28-11-1997' he has left the matter to the police to be dealt on criminal side.
(B) A criminal case through F.I.R. No,229, dated 28-11-1997 under section 506/147/149, P.P.C., has been registered against the protestors/miscreants in which some accused have been arrested and it is stated that efforts are made to identify the remaining accused. The investigation in this case is conducted by S.H.O. Police Station Secretariat under the supervision of S.S.P.
(C) The report of the Chief Commissioner is vague and falls much short of serving the purpose for which it was constituted. Although in this report he has to some extent condemned the police for their indifferent attitude, dereliction and laxity, the Magistrate for their failure to act timely and promptly to bring the situation under control and also the staff of the Supreme Court for confining everything to themselves and for not coordinating with the other agencies yet it has not been able to fix responsibility on any one. Similarly, much cannot be expected from the registration of the criminal case because of the lethargic and casual manner in which the investigation is conducted.
Therefore, I would make the following suggestions:--
(i) As the action of those individuals who forced their entry into the Court premises and raised slogans against the judiciary prima facie amounts to gross contempt of this Court but, except for some of them, most of such individuals have yet to be identified, it is considered appropriate that the Hon'ble Chief Justice may constitute a Bench of the Court to initiate contempt proceedings for the outrageous incident of 28-11-1997. The Bench so constituted can adopt such measures and take such actions as it may deem necessary to identify the concerned persons. Once the concerned persons are identified, the Court can then issue notice to them and then take further action under Article 204 of the Constitution and the applicable law. Necessity for initiating such action immediately is felt because of paramount importance of the matter as the sanctity, dignity and respect of the apex Court of the country is involved. Street power should not be allowed to coerce and intimidate the judiciary."
' On the submission of the Report, the Hon'ble Chief Justice, by the following order dated 25-2-1998 constituted the present Bench comprising 3 Judges of this Court to identify the persons involved in the incident of 28-11-1997 and to initiate contempt proceedings, as recommended in the Report:- "Pursuant to the recommendation contained in para. C (i) of the report, I constitute a Bench comprising Mr. Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, Mr. Justice Manawwar Ahmad Mirza, and Mr. Justice Abdur Rehman Khan to identify the persons involved in the incident of 28th November, 1997, and to initiate contempt proceedings as recommended in the above para.
3. Pursuant to the orders of the Hon'ble Chief Justice Criminal Miscellaneous No,27 of 1998 was registered and proceedings were commenced in the case, On 2-3-1998, the learned Attorney- General, the then Chief Commissioner Islamabad, and I.-G.P., Islamabad, appeared on notice issued by this Court.
' During the proceedings", learned Attorney-General placed on record letter dated 3-3-1998 of the Chief Commissioner, Islamabad, alongwith copy of the report also dated 3-3-1998 from the S.S.P., Islamabad to the I.-G.P., Islamabad, alongwith annexures. A video cassette had also been sent by Mr. Ardeshir Cowasjee, columnist of Karachi to this Court which was a copy of some portions of the original cassette recording the proceedings of 28-11-1997 on the Closed Circuit T.V. Cameras then installed in this Court and also copy of the film shown on the B.B.C. About the incident in question. It was brought to the notice of the Bench that the closed Circuit T.V. System then installed in this Court had 8 cameras; 4 were installed outside Court Room Nos.1 and 4 cameras on the ground floor below Court Room No,1; and that two original cassettes were available which had recorded the incidents of 28-11-1997 by such cameras. The two cassettes were watched on T.V. Screen by the Bench and also the cassette sent by Mr. Ardeshir Cowasjee. These cassettes were also supplied to learned Attorney-General. The Local Administration on the basis of these cassettes alongwith other available material in the form of photographs published in the newspapers, prepared 3 separate lists of persons who had been identified. The first list comprised all those persons who had already been arrested in Crime No,229 of 1997 registered at Police Station Secretariat Islamabad. The second list comprised 3 M.N.A.S., one Senator, one Federal Minister and one M.P.A., all belonging to Pakistan Muslim League (N); these persons who were identified and had already been interrogated in Crime No,229 of 1997. The 3rd list comprised 23 persons who had been identified from the video cassettes/ pictures and these included MNAs/MPAs/ Ministers/ Newspaper reporters and other persons. According to the report of the S.S.P., Islamabad, the 23 persons mentioned in the 3rd list, identified to be present in and around the premises of this Court, were going to be interrogated in the Criminal case.
4. The Deputy Attorney-General had also filed a list of witnesses whose evidence he wanted this Court to record. Mr. Ardeshir Cowasjee also gave a list of witnesses who, according to him could be seen on the video cassette. Other persons made applications to the Court for being examined.
Whenever the Court considered necessary, such persons were called and their statements recorded.
5. In all, this Court examined 53 witnesses. Some of these witnesses also produced documents which were exhibited. The last two witnesses, namely, S.S.P. Islamabad, Altaf Hussain, (W.No, 52) and journalist Fakhar-ur-Rehman (W.No, 53), were examined on 15-6-1998. The Attorney-General attended a few hearings, but in most of the hearings Mian Tariq Mahmood, the then learned Deputy Attorney-General appeared and, after his elevation to the Lahore High Court, Maulvi Anwarul Haq, learned Deputy Attorney-General remained in attendance during the proceedings for assistance.
' The 53 witnesses whose evidence was recorded in these proceedings are:-- W. No NAME OF WITNESS
1. Ardeshir Cowasjee
2. MNA Tariq Aziz
3. MNA Mian Muhammad Munir
4. MNA Rao Qaiser Ali Khan
5. Mrs. Najma Hamid
6. Senator Saifiur Rehman
7. MNA Kh. Muhammad Asif.
8. Senator Mushahid Hussain
9. MPA Ch. Tanwir Ahmad Khan
10. MPA Akhtar Rasool
11. MPA Mian Abdul Sattar
12. MPA Kh. Saad Rafiq
13. Shahbaz Goshi
14. Mrs. Syeda Javidi Fatima
15. Musthtaq Ali Tahir Kheli
16. Akhtar Mahmood
17. Sardar Muhammad Naseem Khan
18. Yahya Munawwar
19. Mrs. Nelofar Bakhtiar
20. Muhammad Basharat Raja
21. Raja Ashfaq Sarwar
22. Malik Shuja
23. Hussain Haqqani
24. Altaf Hussain Bhatti
25. M. Aslam Butt
26. Senator Ajmal Khattak
27. MNA Asfand Yar Wali Khan
28. MNA Ghulam Ahmed Bilour
29. MNA Arbab Muhammad Jehangir
30. Abdul Wadood Qureshi
31. Zahid Hussain
32. Mehmood Ali
33. Naveed Miraj
34. Senator Syed Iqbal Haider
35. MNA Syed Khurshid Ahmad Shah
36. MNA Syed Naveed Qamar
37. Abid Ali
38. A.C. Muhammad Ali
39. A.C. Iftikhar Ali Shalwani
40. ASP Bashir Ahmad Nasir
41. DSP Muhammad Ashiq Farooqui
42. DSP Liaqat Ali
43. Muhammad Zaka Ullah
44. Sohail Ahmad Babar
45. Ch. Abdur Razzaq
46. Humayun Khan Jadoon
47. Amirullah Khattak
48. Muhammad Ilyas Farooqui
49. Alamdar Hussain Shah
50. Javid Akram
51. I.-G.P. Tariq Saleem Lone
52. S.S.P. Altaf Hussain
53. Fakhar-ur-Rehman
6. After minutely watching the video cassettes containing some coverage of the incidents which took place in and around the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Islamabad, on 28-11-1997, and on the basis of the evidence recorded by this Court and the pictures appearing in the newspapers and other magazines, it is apparent that very serious acts of rowdyism had taken place in and around the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the day in question. It also appears from the evidence and other material now available on record that a large crowd gathered on the Constitution Avenue outside the outer gate of this Court. This crowd had not suddenly reached such proportions in a matter of minutes but gradually the crowd built up. People had also reported to have come or were brought in buses from areas out side Islamabad. The crowd was raising slogans inter alia against the judiciary and Justice (now retired) Sajjad Ali Shah; banners and flags were also being raised; such banners also displayed similar derogatory remarks.
' According to the superior officers of the police, who have given evidence before this Court, there was adequate police force available to deal with such crowd but despite this the crowd was able to break the chain by which the outer gate was locked and forced its way inside the outer premises of the Court. A sizeable number of this emotionally charged crowd comprising about 100 odd persons were able to force their entry inside the building of the Supreme Court and around 40 persons were able to go up to the first floor, next to Court Room No,1. From the evidence that has been adduced before this Court, it follows that if the doors of Court Room No,1 had not been closed, quite a few of the miscreants, who had been able to force their way up, would have entered Court Room No,1.
We reiterate with great emphasis the observations in the Report dated 18-2-1998 that the action of those individuals who forced their entry into the Supreme Court premises and raised derogatory slogans are prima facie guilty of gross contempt of this Court and that initiation of action under Article 204 of the Constitution and the applicable law against such persons is necessary as the matter involves the sanctity, dignity and respect of the apex Court of the country and that street power should not be allowed to coerce and intimidate the judiciary.
7. The role of the local administration and the police also left much to be desired. From the evidence of the senior police officers it appears that, with the force available, the agitation could have been controlled and, in any case, the crowd restrained from coming inside the Court premises and also inside the building. The evidence and other material on record shows that the local administration as well as the senior police officers were aware of the deteriorating situation and gradual built up of the crowd which was raising slogans. If immediate, firm and strong action had been taken, the situation could have been controlled from further deterioration specially restraining the crowd forcing itself into the Court premises and then into the Court building. It appears that the local administration and the police did not take the required action. Apparently there was no impediment in the way of local administration and the police in restraining and controlling the crowd but satisfactory action, which was the need of the hour was not taken. In this way, the officers of the local administration as well as the police impliedly facilitated the entry of the crowd inside the Court premises and then into the building of the Court.
8. On the basis of the evidence and other material on record including the video cassettes, we are of the view that the following persons are prima facie involved in or aided or abetted or facilitated the acts of rowdyism that had taken place in and around the Supreme Court, Islamabad, on 28-11- 1997.
1. MNA Tariq Aziz
2. MNA Mian Muhammad Munir
3. MPA Ch. Tanwir Ahmed Khan
4. MPA Akhtar Rasool
5. Shahbaz Goshi
6. Mushtaq Ali Tahir Kheli
7. Akhtar Mahmood.
8. MPA Sardar Muhammad Naseem Khan
9. Babar Awan, MSF Divisional President.
10. Ali Abbas, General Secretary, Labour Wing, Rawalpindi,
11. Anjum Iqbal, Rawalpindi.
12. Muhammad Farooq, Divisional General Secretary, Yourh Wing, Rawalpindi.
13. Muhammad Naseem, Joint Secretary, MSF Labour Wing, Rawalpindi.
14. Tanvir Akhtar, General Secretary, Muslim League Youth Wing, Rawalpindi.
15. Raja Zafar Iqbal, Joint Secretary, Muslim League Labour Wing, Rawalpindi,
16. Malik Muhamamd Munawar, General Secretary, Muslim League, Rawalpindi.
(Nos. 9 to 16 are also accused in Crime No,229 of 1997 of Police Station Secretariat, Islamabad).
17. Tariq Saleem Lone, I.-G.P., Islamabad.
18. Altaf Hussain, S.S.P., Islamabad.
19. Bashir Ahmad Nasir, A.S.P., Islamabad.
20. D.S.P. Liaqat Ali
21. D.S.P. Muhammad Ashiq Farooqui.
22. Inspector Jamil Ahmad Hashmi (SHO P.S. Sectt.)
23. Inspector Mussarrat Khan (SHO Bharakau)
24. Abid Ali (ADC General and Acting D.C.)
25. Muhammad Ali, Asstt. Commissioner.
26. Iftikhar Ali Shalwani, Asstt. Commissioner.
It is directed that show-cause notices be issued to the above 26 persons calling upon them why action be not taken against them for committing contempt of this Court.