Food authority has no power to close eatery, argues Arizona Grill

SHC wants to know jurisdiction of cantonment board, provincial govt

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) sought details from the federal and the provincial governments as well as cantonment boards on the laws regulating restaurants and eateries in their respective jurisdictions.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Agha Faisal was hearing a plea against the closure of Arizona Grill by Sindh Food Authority (SFA) following the deaths of two minors.

The petitioner's lawyer argued on Friday that the restaurant and its warehouse fell under the jurisdiction of the cantonment board, which had issued the licence to Arizona Grill. Justice Mazhar asked whether the cantonment officials were sleeping when such a serious incident occurred.

The court sought explanatory arguments from the federal and provincial governments related to the cantonment boards and provincial government and adjourned the hearing till January 17.

Court remands restaurant's managers to police custody in Karachi

According to the counsel for SFA, the authority can operate anywhere in the province. The plea argued that the cantonment board did not take any action in the case of death of two minors from food poisoning. The petitioner’s counsel further said that federal laws apply in the area and the SFA cannot operate there.

Missing person case

The SHC issued notices to Sindh home department, Sindh IGP, Rangers Director-General (DG) and others on a plea for the recovery of missing persons. A two-member bench comprising Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto and Justice KK Agha heard the plea.

The counsel for the petitioner argued that Ghias Ahmed was taken into custody from Water Pump in Federal B Area on January 4 and was still missing. He requested the court to ensure Ahmed's recovery.

Hearing adjourned

The same bench adjourned the hearing of the plea against life imprisonment awarded to Saeed Bharam in the murder of a member of Muhajir Qaumi Movement - Haqiqi (MQM-H), Syed Abrar Hussain, due to the absence of the defence lawyer.

Defence lawyers produced Bharam's confessional statement before the court, in which he admitted to the attacks on Sindh Secretariat, Garden Police Head Office and the murder of lawyers and several other people.

In his statement, Bharam said he was ordered by the leadership of Muttahida Qaumi Movement's (MQM), including Nadeem Nusrat, Farooq Sattar, Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhter, Haider Abbas Rizvi and Muhammad Anwar, to conduct terrorist activities. It mentioned that Anwar called Bharam on his phone in 2005 and 2006 and told him that Altaf Hussain had ordered the formation of a target killing team to kill his opponents. The accused committed many acts of target killing and vandalism in the city accompanied by Saulat Mirza, Ajmal Pahari and other target killers.

The court inquired from the Rangers' counsel as to how many cases were registered against the accused. The counsel requested for more time to submit Bharam's criminal record. Rangers' prosecutor also argued that the anti-terrorism court had awarded lifetime imprisonment to the accused based on concrete evidence and therefore the sentence should be sustained, adding that severe punishment should be awarded. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2019.