Staying put: SHC dismisses plea to transfer Saulat Mirza to Karachi

The convict's family asked the court to order the prisoner's transfer so they may meet him.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) dismissed on Tuesday a petition seeking the transfer of the death-row convict, Saulat Mirza, from Balochistan's Machh Jail, where he is scheduled to be executed on March 19, to Karachi.

A division bench, comprising justices Ahmed Ali M Sheikh and Hasan Feroze, directed Balochistan's home secretary and the police IG to ensure no hurdle was created in the meeting of the convict with his family at Machh Jail.

The condemned prisoner's sister, Nighat Fatima, had approached the high court to seek the transfer of her brother from Quetta to Karachi.

Saulat Mirza, who is associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), was sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court on May 24, 1999, for killing the then managing director of Karachi Electric Supply Corporation, Shahid Hamid, his driver and a guard on July 5, 1997, in Karachi.

The petitioner's lawyer, Khursheed Anwar Khan, said that through these proceedings, his client sought the transfer of the convict from Machh Jail, Balochistan to Karachi. "Since the family members of the convict are residing in Karachi, they are unable to undergo the long journey to see the convict at Machh Jail, Balochistan. It is very difficult to go to Balochistan and arrange facilities for the execution proceedings," Khan argued.

The judges observed that: "During the course of arguments, the counsel for petitioner concedes that black warrants have been issued against the convict, Saulat Mirza, for March 19. As such, we do not find any force in the instant petition, which is accordingly dismissed."

They directed, however, the Balochistan home secretary and the IG to ensure the meeting of the condemned prisoner with his family members without any hindrance.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2015.