Afaq’s freedom appeal - Not enough evidence to start trial: SHOs

Mere allegations cannot be accepted and so cases should be quashed, argues Afaq’s lawyer.

KARACHI:

Afaq Ahmed, the chief of his own faction of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi who has been in jail since 2004, has asked the Sindh High Court to release him, arguing that the cases against him are fake.

On Monday, Afaq’s arch-rival Amir Khan, who founded his own MQM-H faction, was released after the Sindh High Court revoked his life term.

Earlier on, the SHC appellate bench had issued notices to the SHOs of the Sharae Faisal, Landhi, Saudabad, Sharafi Goth and al Falah police stations. They submitted written replies and reports about Afaq’s cases in court during Tuesday’s hearing.

According to their submissions, the SHOs maintained that Afaq was nominated in murder and attempt-to-murder cases, but not enough evidence was found against him.

Afaq was never formally arrested for these cases because more evidence was needed and his name was thus placed in column 2 of the FIR, the SHOs said in their statements. Usually this column is reserved for the names of suspects who cannot be sent for trial because either there is not enough or no evidence. Entries to column 2 are made in blue ink. Names of absconders are written in red. One of the SHOs stated that he had earlier submitted a challan of the case to the court.

Meanwhile, Afaq Ahmed’s lawyer Muhammad Farooq submitted that because his client’s name was written in column 2, the trial court could not take cognisance of the allegations that are not substantiated by evidence and thus, the FIRs against him should be quashed. The Sindh additional advocate-general, appearing on behalf of the Sindh government, said he did not know about the status of the cases which is why he needed time.

Justices Maqbool Baqar and Ghulam Sarwar Korai ordered the Sindh advocate-general and the Sindh prosecutor-general to submit detailed reports about the status of the cases against Afaq Ahmed. The hearing was adjourned to a date that will be fixed by the court’s office.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2011.