SHC grants CTD last chance to file comments

Court hearing case regarding harassment of airport attack suspects’ families

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) gave on Wednesday a last chance to the provincial law officer to file replies on behalf of the Counter-Terrorism Department’s (CTD) Additional IG over the alleged harassment of the families of two airport attack suspects who were allegedly detained outside the central jail shortly after their release on bail.

An anti-terrorism court had granted bail to Sarmad Siddiqui and Nadeem Patel, who were accused of facilitating the alQaeda suspects in an armed attack on the Karachi airport on June 8, 2014.

The petitioners, including Shahnawaz Siddiqui and Iqbal Patel, informed the judges that their brothers, Sarmad and Nadeem, were released on bail by an ATC on August 10 last year. But, soon after their release law enforcement agency personnel picked them up, the petitioners added.

In their plea, the petitioners said the detainees were released after an illegal detention of one month and expressed apprehension about their safety. The petitioners alleged that officials of the CTD were trying to booking them in false cases.



The court was told the petitioners were also being harassed by CTD officers. Therefore, the court was requested to restrain the police from booking the detainees in fresh cases without the court's permission.

During Wednesday's proceedings, the judges were told that the CTD officials had so far minted huge sums from the families of the two men by threatening to book them in false cases.

They claimed that the DIG Amir Farooqui had also recommended the registration of a criminal case against the CTD officials, but no action had been taken so far.

The court had, on different occasions, granted time to the government law officer to file comments on behalf of the CTD AIG and others.

However, an assistant advocate-general once again made a request for more time to file comments on behalf of the respondents. Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, who headed the bench, granted time till April 4 as a last chance to the AAG to file comments. The bench also warned that an order may be passed on the basis of the petition in the case if comments were not filed by the next date of hearing.