Sindh High Court building. PHOTO: EXPRESS
Adil Zafar was allegedly taken away by law enforcement agencies from the limits of Mobina Town police station seven months ago, according his wife, who has filed a missing persons case in court.
The judges had previously directed the SHO to appear with a progress report regarding efforts for the recovery of the alleged detainee. However, the officer failed to appear in court on Monday. Taking serious notice of such misconduct, the two judges ordered the SHO's suspension and directed the relevant DIG to submit a compliance report on the next hearing.
Jail official's apology
Meanwhile, the SHC accepted the 'unconditional' apology tendered by the superintendent of Karachi Central Jail with directions to be careful in the future with regard to compliance of court directives.
The bench was hearing a case regarding the alleged illegal detention of Muhammad Tehseen by the Rangers. Tehseen is an elected local government representative.
On May 9, the bench had issued a bailable warrant, for a sum of Rs50,000, for the arrest of jail superintendent Qazi Nazeer for not appearing in court despite issuance of a contempt notice.
Fauzia Hameed had moved an application in the SHC seeking contempt of court proceedings against the jail official for allegedly not complying with the court's directives to allow a family meeting with Tehseen.
Hameed said she had withdrawn her missing person petition after law enforcers had disclosed her husband's detention at Karachi jail and the court had ordered the inmate's meeting with his family, but the jail authorities did not follow the court order.
On Monday, the superintendent appeared and tendered an unconditional apology to the court, saying his absence from the proceedings was not deliberate. Accepting his apology, the judges directed the officer to be careful in the future and dismissed the contempt plea.
MQM workers recovered
Meanwhile, the relatives of seven men who were allegedly taken away by law enforcers took back their cases after the alleged detainees were produced in courts.
The petitioners had sought recovery of their relatives, including Murshid Alam, Tariq, Khalil, Rehmatullah, Ghulam Farid and others, who were allegedly detained by the police or Rangers from different parts of the city at various times.
During Monday's proceedings, the petitioners did not wish to further press their cases after the detainees had been produced by the law enforcers in the relevant courts. The judges dismissed their petitions as withdrawn.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 17th, 2016.
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