PHOTO: EXPRESS
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) rejected on Monday a request to order the transfer of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) - London leader Kunwar Khalid Younus, who is currently detained by the Rangers under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance.
The two-judge bench, however, fixed a hearing on the plea challenging his detention on November 4.
The paramilitary force had arrested Younus, along with other MQM-London leaders, from outside the Karachi Press Club on October 21, 2016 as they were going to address a press conference. Later, his family came to know that he had been detained along with other leaders under the said law.
His wife, Naz Khalid Kunwar, had filed the petition seeking his release. In her petition, she maintained that there are no criminal charges against her husband. But, she suspected that her spouse would be implicated in fictitious criminal cases.
The petitioner's lawyer argued that the detention order was illegal and unconstitutional, adding that the law enforcement agencies were bound to treat every citizen equally but they were overriding certain provisions of the Constitution, which guarantee protection of lives of all citizens, freedom of speech and freedom of movement.
The court was pleaded to declare the detention of the petitioner's spouse illegal and order his release. The court was further requested to direct jail authorities to allow relatives of the detainee to meet him.
On Monday, the petitioner's lawyer also moved an application seeking an urgent hearing on the petition. The court was also requested to order shifting the detainee to a hospital, as he needed urgent medical assistance.
The bench turned down the request for shifting the detainee to a hospital, however, it fixed the date for the matter to be heard on November 4.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 1st , 2016.
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