Talpur said she could not travel around to lead her party’s campaign due to alleged threats.
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the federal government to provide foolproof security to former lawmaker and sister of President Asif Ali Zardari, Faryal Talpur, who has already been allowed to keep ‘five bulletproof vehicles’ and 50 arms of ‘prohibited bore’.
Justice Maqbool Baqir, who headed the bench, passed this direction while disposing of the former legislator’s plea seeking direction for the interior ministry to provide her foolproof security and permission to use vehicles with tinted glass and keep private guards. Talpur, who is also the head of the Pakistan People’s Party women wing, in November 2012 had gone to court against the federal and provincial governments for allegedly not entertaining her plea for foolproof security.
Masood Ghani, her lawyer, cited letters written by the Crises Management Cell to the federal interior ministry, home secretaries of all provinces, Sindh and Punjab Rangers DGs and Rawalpindi RPO that referred to looming threats to Talpur’s life.
Talpur alleged that officials were asked to provide her adequate security, but no steps have been taken in this regard so far. She added that she has to travel a lot due to the nature of her job and therefore, needed proper security arrangements.
Filing a miscellaneous application, Talpur asked the court to expeditiously decide the matter, as the elections were around the corner but she could not travel around to lead her party’s campaign due to alleged threats.
She asked the court to direct the officials to make necessary security arrangements for her and to also allow her to use a vehicle with tinted glasses and carry personal security guards with licensed weapons.
Disposing of the plea, the bench directed the federal government to provide adequate security to the petitioner.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 9th, 2013.
COMMENTS (5)
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Fine .But let her pay for it.Why should ordinary citizen/tax payer pay for her security?
All citizens of the country need security.
Respectfully please let me know under what law or legal authority was this order passed?
Why may I ask? Under what law? Why not to all the other candidates as well?
To end these parochial decisions, provincial judges should be appointed any province apart from home province so they have no tribal or other affiliation with local population. Hopefully, just hopefully, their decision making will be fairer.
I would still question why she needs 5 cars. One is enough, two is too many but 5 bullet proof cars is a convoy. Are these people representing the poor or have they graced us with their presence from the skies ?
pathetic decision by Judiciary. Security should be used for counter terrorism , not to protect the lives of the corrupt
5 bullet-proof vehicles? 50 arms of prohibited bore?!
If these politicians are so afraid for their lives, they should probably find another occupation, and let us be. Our tax money is keeping these safely ensconced behind layered security, while we are falling like flies due to violence and terrorism brought on by this government's ineptitude.