Sindh High Court : Arch-rivals MQM-H’s Afaq, Aamir get bail

Former stays in jail, latter is free to go.


Zeeshan Mujahid May 10, 2011

KARACHI:


The Sindh High Court has given bail in a murder case to the arch-rivals, Afaq Ahmed and Aamir Khan, who are leading their own factions of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement - Haqiqi (MQM-H).


Ahmed, who was recently accused of the target killing of Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) Farooq Baig on May 2, will have to stay in jail until this case is resolved. On the other hand, Aamir is free to leave prison.

On Monday, Justice Ghulam Sarwar Korai granted bail to the two men against a solvent surety of Rs300,000 each. Afaq and Aamir were being tried for the murder of an MQM activist in 1992. They were arrested in 2004 and have been in custody since then.

Korai was hearing the appeals filed by the two accused, who were sentenced for life by the judicial complex additional district and sessions judge in October 2010. When the appeal came for hearing on Monday, both the state and the complainant sought an adjournment.

However, M Ilyas Khan and Muhammad Farooq, lawyers appearing for the convicted accused, opposed the adjournment.

They said that the state and the complainant seek an adjournment on one ground or another at every hearing. The objective is to keep the accused, who are arch-rivals, behind bars. The lawyers asked the court to either proceed with the case, or give them bail.

The lawyers argued that the trial court made a mistake in its judgment because all the co-accused have been let off the hook when the prosecution failed to prove the case against them.

The bench ordered the suspension of the sentence awarded to the accused by the trial court. It also admitted the accused to bail against a surety of Rs300,000 each or a personal bond of the same amount.

Earlier, several other accused in this case were tried separately and all of them were cleared of all charges for want of evidence.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10th, 2011.

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