Naqeebullah murder case: Sindh High Court issues notice to DSP over non-appearance

Court asks SSPs of all the districts to submit replies on growing incidents of street crimes in the city

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued notice to the DSP Qamar Ahmed for not appearing at the trial court in the plea seeking cancellation of bails granted to suspects in the Naqeebullah murder case. A two-member bench heard the plea.

The petitioner's lawyer, Faisal Siddiqui, argued that Ahmed had not appeared in the court since his release. The court issued notice to Ahmed and summoned a reply at the next hearing on December 13.

An anti-terrorism court had approved the bail of former SSP Rao Anwar and former DSP Qamar Ahmed. Naqeebullah's father filed a petition in the SHC seeking cancellation of the bail. The petition maintained that the aggrieved party was not heard while deciding on Anwar's bail plea. The suspects are accused of abducting Naqeebullah and his companions, illegal possession of arms and murder.

Street crime

The SHC asked SSP of all the districts in the city to submit replies against a plea relating to growing incidents of street crimes in Karachi. The order came after Korangi SSP submitted his comments on the petition. A two-member bench heard the plea.

The court expressed displeasure over the DIGs for not filing their replies. According Korangi SSP, the area police have taken effective measures to control street crimes. In 2018, the police in district Korangi arrested 241 suspects while the number of suspects apprehended in 2017 stood at 190. There were 60 police standoffs this year in which seven suspects were killed and 49 others taken in custody in an injured state.

The petitioner for the case, Advocate Muzammil, maintained that the city was again seeing a surge in street crimes and the Sindh government and police have failed to stop growing incidence of street crime. The DIGs should be inquired about the number of cases that has been registered throughout the city. Supreme Court has also given an order in this regard.

KPT corruption

The SHC postponed the hearing on the bail plea of Muttahida Qaumi Movement - Pakistan (MQM-P) MPA Javed Hanif, and other suspects till the November 29 due to the absence of the judge.

At the previous hearing, the lawyer for suspect Rauf Akhtar Farooqi had presented his arguments. At the next hearing, the lawyers of the other suspects will present their arguments.

According to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Hanif, who is also the former chairperson of Karachi Port Trust (KPT), is accused of corruption and abuse of authority for illegally appointing 940 employees in KPT in connivance with the then minister of ports and shipping Babar Ghauri. The appointments were made against the laws of the KPT and without any advertisements. It caused a loss of more than Rs2 billion to the national exchequer.

Employment termination

The SHC, while maintaining the stay order against termination of employees in Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Authority (STEVA), issued notices to Sindh advocate-general and others. A two-member bench heard the plea filed by Sana Afzal and others.

The counsel for petitioner, Shayanun Nabi, maintained that his clients, who had been working for STEVA for the past seven years, were informed that their services were being terminated because their NTS marks were below standard. He asked why the organisation had employed the clients for seven years when their marks were low and requested the court to order the authorities to cancel the termination. The hearing was adjourned till December 20.

Report submitted

The SHC adjourned the hearing after Sindh prosecutor-general submitted his reply against the bail applications of four high profile target killing suspects affiliated with MQM-P, including Kamran Madhuri. A two member bench heard the petition.

The public prosecutor submitted a report on cases against Kamran Madhuri in subordinate courts, according to which, Madhuri has been granted bail in three cases. The prosecutor-general maintained that Madhuri was a dangerous suspect and had been booked in seven different cases. On the other hand, one case each has been registered against suspects Mohsin and Sohail Nadeem. He said that the anti-terrorist court had rejected the bail pleas of all four suspects and hence, the bail request should not be admitted. The court adjourned the hearing till December 13.

According to police, the suspects carried out an attack on a police van in Chakra Goth. The incident claimed lives of six police officers while many others were injured. The suspects were identified by the witnesses before a magistrate.

Fishing policy

The Sindh High Court (SHC) sought a detailed response from the federal government over the plea moved against grant of permission to foreigners to hunt fish 200 nautical miles in the sea. A two-member bench heard the case.

The counsel of the petitioner, Barrister Latif Khosa who is also Pakistan People's Party (PPP) general secretary, said that the representatives of the federal government had promised the fishermen to suspend the current policy. However, he added, the foreign companies continue to carry out fishing in deep sea while the marine deputy director policy seems unaware of the policy.

Marine deputy director appeared before the court. The court expressed displeasure at the director and demanded the deputy attorney-general to issue notification regarding suspension of the policy. The deputy attorney-general said that deep sea fishing policy had been halted and the federal cabinet will formulate a new policy with the consultation of stake holders.

The court remarked that the order to suspend deep sea policy will be maintained till the formulation of the new policy. The petition maintains the new policy has caused a loss of Rs10 billion to the government.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2018.