Lawyers’ killings: IG directed to speed up investigation

Supreme Court orders home secretary to complete compensation payments in a week.

KARACHI: The Supreme Court (SC) directed the province's top cop to ensure that investigation into the targetted killings of lawyers is expedited and the culprits are arrested at the earliest.

A two-member bench, headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim, also ordered the Sindh home secretary to ensure payment of compensation to families of ten slain lawyers. The apex court was hearing suo motu proceedings initiated on application of the legal fraternity against the targeted killing of lawyers and non-payment of compensation to their families.

At the outset of proceedings, home secretary Jamal Mustafa said 52 lawyers were killed across the province in recent years, including 28 in Karachi. Of them, families of 40 victims have been compensated by the government, he added.

He explained that compensation cases of two victims are being processed while details are being called from the bar association about ten other victims. Soon, compensation cheques would be issued to them, he assured.

Additional IG (Legal) informed the court that 38 cases of lawyers' targeted killings had been registered, of them charge-sheets in 16 cases had already been submitted to the relevant trial courts while investigation was ongoing in the remaining cases. The bench directed IG Ghulam Haider Jamali to ensure the arrest of killers in the undecided cases, and ordered the home secretary to give compensation cheques to the remaining families through the relevant bar associations within a week.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2016.