PESHAWAR, May 31: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday directed the Islamabad police to produce before it Ghulam Ali arrested under the Hudood law for marrying Robeena Zaheen, a resident of the federal capital.

The bench was hearing a writ petition seeking registration of an FIR against the Islamabad police for taking away the couple from the province.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Raj Muhammad Khan fixed June 7 for further hearing of the matter and directed Islamabad police to provide proper protection to Ghulam Ali.

The bench took exception to illegal shifting of Ghulam Ali’s wife, Robeena Zaheen, to the federal capital where she was fired at by her cousin in an honour-related attack and was injured.

“She is a sui juris (adult) and had contracted nikah on her free will. Why you people are bent upon punishing the couple,” asked Justice Dost Muhammad from SI Arshid Ali and ASI Muhammad Ashraf of Bhara Kahu police station (Islamabad), who were present on court notice.

They informed the bench that the girl’s statement was recorded under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code in Islamabad in the light of which the police moved an application for dropping the case against Ghulam Ali. They said that he would be released by an Islamabad court within a couple of days.

They said the girl had been shifted to Peshawar and handed over to her in-laws.

Advocates Qayyum Sarwar, Usman Khan Tarlandi and Manzoor Khalil appeared for the couple, advocate Ms Shehnaz Hameed for the APWA’s darul aman and advocate Akhter Naveed for the NWFP government.

The bench asked the police to be very careful in cases of choice-marriage and not to victimise couples contracting legal marriage.

“The Supreme Court has already taken notice in such cases and issued directions that sui juris females who contract marriage on their free will should not be harassed,” the bench observed.

Advocate Shehnaz Hameed informed the court that on May 12 an Islamabad police party forcibly took away the girl without any arrest warrant or authorisation letter. She submitted that they had lodged a complaint with the Hashtnagri police station against the Islamabad police.

The bench also took serious notice of the attitude of the Islamabad and Punjab police. “It is our observation that police from the Punjab conduct raids here in illegal manner without informing the local police and in one incident people had fired at such a team in Abbotabad,” Justice Dost Muhammad remarked.

SI Arshid Ali stated that they had conducted the raid legally as the Islamabad chief commissioner had been in contact

with the NWFP home department.

Advocate Qayyum Sarwar pointed out that the record showed that permission was given for shifting of Ghulam Ali to Islamabad and there was no mention of Robeena Zaheen in the permission letter.

Advocate Tarlandi submitted that the statement of the girl could have been recorded in Peshawar instead of forcibly taking her to Islamabad where her cousin attacked her. He alleged that the Islamabad police were in collusion with Zaheen Ahmad, father of the girl, who had registered a fake FIR against Ghulam Ali.

The girl had left her parents residence in Islamabad last month and married Ghulam Ali, whom she had met in Islamabad. Father of the girl lodged an FIR with Bhara Kahu police station on April 10 under the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979, against Ghulam Ali, accusing him of abducting his daughter.

Ms Robeena, however, refuted the allegations in her statement before a local court and said that her life was in danger and her family members would kill her.

In Islamabad, she was taken to a hospital for medico-legal opinion where she was fired at by her relatives. Robeena had received injuries and was admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).