Islamabad: The Supreme Court yesterday convicted seven Islamabad police and administration officials on charges of manhandling Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry in the capital in March.
A three-judge Bench headed by Justice Rana Bhagwandas found the accused guilty of contempt of court. Chaudhry was manhandled on March 13, four days after he was charged with misconduct by President Pervez Musharraf.
The top judge was reinstated on July 20 by the Supreme Court, which dismissed the charges against him.
The Bench sentenced Islamabad Inspector General of Police Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmad and Superintendent of Police Zafar Iqbal to jail terms of 15 days each.
Deputy Police Superintendent Jamil Hashmi and two other police officers, Rukhsar Mehdi and Siraj Ahmad, were each sentenced to a month's stay in jail.
Chief Commissioner of Islamabad Khalid Parvez and Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ali were punished with detention till the rising of the court.
The court, however, suspended enforcement of the jail sentences on the five police officials for 15 days after their counsels pleaded for time to enable their clients to file appeals.
After the manhandling incident, the then acting chief justice Javed Iqbal had appointed provincial high court judge Ijaz Afzal Khan as inquiry officer.
During the inquiry, the judge recorded statements of media representatives and the accused officials before giving his recommendations for punitive action.
The trial was held by the three-member bench headed by Justice Bhagwandas. During the proceedings the accused tendered unconditional apologies.