SC orders PTI lawmakers to submit written apology for influencing police investigation

The Supreme Court on Monday, while hearing a case regarding alleged land grabbing by Mansha Bomb, ordered Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers Malik Karamat Khokhar and Nadeem Abbas Bara to submit a written apology for trying to influence the police in their investigation.

MNA Khokhar and MPA Bara had offered the court an unconditional apology earlier today for protecting Mansha and hindering police investigation. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar ordered them to submit a written apology, which was accepted, along with the assurance that they would assist police in Mansha’s arrest.

The top judge also ordered police to arrest ‘land grabber’ Mansha Bomb immediately and directed authorities to recover the land that had been grabbed illegally. Justice Nisar also ordered authorities to place the names of Mansha Bomb and four of his sons on the Exit Control List.

The police had earlier told the court that Mansha and his sons were involved in more than 70 land grabbing cases, which were registered against them in Lahore’s Johar Town.

Representatives of Punjab police, who were present in court today, termed Mansha Bomb as a “huge mafia”. They told the chief justice that police had been trying to arrest Mansha, yet he had always managed to escape.

A senior police official said that the ‘land grabber’ was also provided protection by Khokhar’s brother, who is a member of the PML-N and was an MNA in the previous government.

An SC bench was hearing the petition of an overseas Pakistani, Mahmood Ashraf, at the top court’s Lahore registry against police ‘reluctance’ to take action against suspect, Mansha alias Bomb, who had allegedly grabbed his property.

“If the inquiry proves that you called the police to stop them from arresting Mansha, you will not return [from the court] as a member of the National Assembly,” the CJ had warned the PTI lawmakers. The CJP also asked PTI’s MPA Bara to bring along his resignation letter, telling him that the court would see if he should be forgiven or not.

Both Khokhar and Bara, who had denied that they tried to influence police proceedings during yesterday’s hearing, changed tack and admitted that they tried to protect Mansha. Khokhar said Mansha Bomb was a member of his community, adding that he made a mistake in trying to help him. He insisted that he had asked the police not to arrest Mansha only if they had not registered a case against the suspect.

Meanwhile, Bara said that he got involved in the matter “by mistake”.

The hearing of the petition was adjourned until an unspecified date.

Source: Dawn News