speedy trial: IHC disposes of Muazzam’s wife’s petition

ISLAMABAD: Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court disposed of a petition filed by Moazzam’s wife. She had urged the court to direct the ATC to expedite the trial by conducting proceedings on a day-to-day basis. Sadia Bano, through her counsel Nazia Bibi, stated that her family was facing problems due to the lengthy detention of her husband. Furthermore, the Karachi resident said that travelling to the capital to visit her husband and attend court proceedings was exacting its toll.

She named the Ministry of interior, FIA director general and the trial court as respondents in the petition.

Bibi said Bano’s husband was running a travel agency for the last 15 years and was picked up from his home in Karachi during a joint raid of the Rangers and police on April 12, 2015.

Thereafter, she said, Muazzam was shifted to Islamabad and his case was pending adjudication before an ATC. Bibi argued that the prosecution has yet to produce any witness since the trial began.

In the petition, Bano stated her husband was facing “the agony of a trial for long without any fault. She added it was not possible for either her or the family to keep shuttling between two cities and meet him.

The petition was disposed of after the FIA said it had appointed a prosecutor in the case and proceedings would begin soon. Earlier, the authority failed to appoint a prosecutor despite repeated court orders.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2016.