Ovais Shah kidnapping: ‘Casual attitude’ of SSP angers top court

We believe the officer facilitated the offence, observes the bench

KARACHI: Incensed by the ‘casual attitude’ of a senior police officer of Sindh, SSP Dr Muhammad Farooq, to its queries about the kidnapping of the son of the top judge of the province, the apex court said: “We believe this officer had facilitated the offence”.

Advocate Ovais Ali Shah, the son of Sindh High Court Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, was seized by masked gunmen from outside a supermarket in the upscale Clifton neighbourhood of Karachi on June 20. And since then, law enforcers have not been able to find a clue.



SSP South Dr Muhammad Farooq, in whose jurisdiction the incident took place, was suspended only to be restored and posted as SSP East. SSP Farooq was allegedly reinstated upon the interference of an influential businessman having close ties with a political party.

A full bench of the Supreme Court – headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali – observed that SSP Farooq had demonstrated criminal negligence, as “in spite information of kidnapping of Barrister Ovais Ali Shah, which he received well in time, he took no steps to trace the culprits nor did he intimate his high-ups for which, he would not offer any plausible explanation”.

The bench, which also comprised Justices Amir Hani Muslim and Khilji Arif Hussain, was hearing the implementation of the Karachi law and order suo motu case at the Karachi registry on Monday.

The bench questioned why the Police Order 2002 – the federal law that gives more powers to the provincial police chief than the provincial authorities – was replaced with the Police Act 1861 in Sindh. The bench asked Advocate General Sindh Barrister Zameer Ghumro to seek  necessary  instructions  from  the  chief minister regarding posting  of a responsible officer to  such  an  important  position.

Appearing before the bench after a brief recess, Barrister Ghumro said the provincial government would immediately order SSP Farooq to report to the Services & General Administrative Department. “We expect the conduct of the police officer shall be looked into departmentally and proper action, if necessary, is taken against him, and the report submitted to this court within two weeks,” the bench said.



“We also expect that in the posting of a new SSP (South), due weightage will be given to the recommendation of the IG Sindh, who is supposed to deal with the overall law and order situation in Sindh in extraordinary circumstances,” they added.

Chief Justice Jamal was also angered by the release of prisoners convicted of heinous crimes on parole. Apparently, a system parallel to the judiciary was being run in the Sindh, he observed. “Under the rules, the Supreme Court and the high courts cannot grant bail to those (prisoners convicted of) heinous crimes, but you release them on the parole,” he told the provincial Chief Secretary Muhammad Siddique Memon.

The chief justice was shocked by the working of the Sindh government. “There is a need to change the rules,” he remarked. “What can the judiciary do if the government runs a parallel system?” he said while questioning the release of four prisoners convicted of heinous crimes like murder and kidnapping for ransom.

The advocate general filed a report, which mentioned only three convicts: Khalid Aziz, Abdul Rasheed and Junaid Ansari. The reasons cited for their release on parole could not satisfy the bench. However, Director (Parole) Saleem Raza informed the bench all three of them were arrested on April 9 this year and sent to the Karachi central prison to serve out their remaining sentences.

Raza, however, could not give a plausible explanation for not submitting report about the fourth convict, Muhammad Khan. Records showed that Khan will serve out his sentence on September 8, 2016; therefore the bench did not order his arrest to serve the remaining sentence.

The chief justice inquired from the chief secretary as to how the crime could be stemmed in Karachi, if the government would release the criminals convicted of heinous crimes by the courts. The bench directed former home secretary Niaz Abbasi, in whose tenure the prisoners were released on parole to appear on next date to explain his position. Abbasi is currently performing Umrah in Saudi Arabia.

The bench also the incumbent chief secretary to  look  into  the  conduct  of  Raza and other members of the Parole Committee, “who had, prima facie, acted in a negligent manner in recommending release of these four convicts on parole … for no valid reasons”.



The bench will take up other  issues  relating  to the law  and  order  situation  in Karachi, such as fitness of vehicles, land grabbing, kidnapping, terrorism,  increase  in  street  crime,  safety  and  security  of  the  citizens and steps taken by police and other agencies on July 17 at Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5^th, 2016.