PESHAWAR: In the May 9 case, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation lawyer, Shabbir Hussain Gigyani, has questioned the Peshawar police investigation, stating that the police conducted a flawed investigation in this case.
He rejected allegations levelled against him by the Peshawar police, and said that all video evidence related to May 9 was already part of the court record, which the police had submitted during the caretaker government period but later failed to send for forensic examination.
Talking to this correspondent, Shabbir Hussain said the police had failed to complete their investigation even after three years.
While rejecting the police allegations, he said all video evidence was already included in the court file, yet the police did not use this evidence effectively.
He said that the police neither conducted identification parades of the accused nor recorded statements of the affected persons from Radio Pakistan.
According to him, victims’ statements are a fundamental part of any investigation, but in this case this key legal requirement was also ignored.
Shabbir Hussain Gigyani said the videos and photographs related to May 9 were available, but the police did not make them part of the challan. He said that as a result, despite the availability of strong evidence, the case was weakened and the accused benefited.
He said statements under Section 161 by the police and under Section 164 before the court should have been recorded, but the police failed to complete this legal process as well.
According to him, the Supreme Court had clearly laid down principles that video and audio material and profile pictures should be sent to relevant institutions for forensic examination so that their authenticity could be verified.
“The police’s claim of not knowing where these videos came from is baseless, because as early as May 2023, the police themselves had made these videos part of the official record,” he contended.
However, the police did not send them for forensic examination.
The lawyer said that initially the police had filed a supplementary application to send the video evidence for investigation, but later they did not pursue the matter and failed to take the process forward seriously. He said that had the forensic examination been completed, there could have been significant progress in the case.
Shabbir Hussain Gigyani alleged that due to a flawed investigation, the accused managed to escape and later the entire blame was placed on the courts.
It is pertinent to note that Chief Minister Sohail Afridi had told this correspondent on Thursday that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police had not sent the material themselves. The court had handed over a sealed envelope, given by opponents lawyer containing a USB, to the investigating officer and had ordered that it be sent to the forensic lab. According to the Chief Minister, neither the lawyer had been informed about the contents of the USB, nor did the police investigating officer know what it contained.
The lawyer had also protested in court to have the material shown, but the honourable judge had not allowed it.
When contacted, the Peshawar police refused to comment, saying the matter is before the court and the trial is in progress.
