Sindh High Court extends bail of PPP MPA Shoro

According to NAB, an inquiry is under way against Shoro over illegal allotment of land

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) extended on Wednesday the bail of Pakistan People Party (PPP) MPA Jam Khan Shoro and several others in an inquiry being conducted by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) till June 11.

A two-member bench, headed by Justice Ahmed Ali Sheikh and comprising Justice Omar Sial, heard the case in which the NAB prosecutor argued that there were two separate inquiries against Shoro that were clubbed together. He added that while a reference has been filed for one of the inquiries, it does not mention Shoro. A separate reference against Shoro will be filed.

The NAB prosecutor requested for time to separate the two inquiries and inform the court. The court granted time and adjourned the hearing.

According to the NAB, an inquiry is currently under way against Shoro over illegal allotment of land in Jamshoro.

Last warning

A two-member-bench comprising Justice Omar Sial and Justice Adnan Iqbal Chaudhry heard the case against PPP leader Faryal Talpur filed by the Federal Investigation Agency.

Advocate Muzamil Soomro informed the court that Talpur's lawyer, Farooq H Naek, was out of country and would work on the case on his return. Justice Sial remarked that this was the last warning and if Naek did not appear before the court at the next hearing, then Soomro would have to present the arguments.

The court adjourned the hearing till May 21.

Missing persons

The high court ordered the home secretary, Sindh inspector-general (IG), Rangers deputy-general (DG) and others to submit by August 7, a report on the pleas pertaining to the recovery of more than 70 missing persons.

A two-member-bench comprising Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto and Justice KK Agha expressed dissatisfaction over the police investigations. Justice Phulpoto remarked that looking at the police's efforts, it seemed unlikely that the missing persons would ever be recovered. The court wants results, he said, adding that paper work does not make any difference. He said that no clues had been found regarding the missing persons even after several sessions of the joint investigation team (JIT), whose officials were not fulfilling their responsibilities.

The counsel for the petitioner argued that Qaiser Khan and Rehmat Khan were arrested near Araam Bagh but later went missing. The counsel for Waseem Ahmed, another missing person, argued that Waseem was an assistant director at Karachi Water and Sewerage Board and the missing persons' commission had ordered to pay the client's salary to his family.

The court asked under which law the commission had been authorised to pass such orders. The counsel for Rangers, Habib Ahmed, said that the court ordered that money be issued to needy families of the missing persons from the national treasury or Zakat funds.

A missing person, Saeed Ahmed, surprisingly appeared in the court during the hearing. The court inquired from him who kidnapped him and where was he kept to which Saeed replied that he had been blindfolded before kidnapping and he was kept in an undisclosed location for a month.

Abuse of authority

The SHC also issued notices to the Sindh IG and home secretary for June 24 over the plea filed by gutka sellers against action taken by the police.

A two-member-bench comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Agha Faisal heard the plea in which the petitioner's counsel, Advocate Irfan Aziz, argued that the police was abusing authority in the operation against gutka sellers. The cases against gutka sellers are being registered under Section B-336 of the Pakistan Penal Code, accusing them of keeping poisonous and acidic material. There are no poisonous and acidic substances present in gutka and chemical analysis can be conducted to prove it, he said.

Aziz asked that the police action against gutka and pan sellers be declared illegal and the Sindh IGP and home secretary be directed to restrict their sub-ordinates from abusing authority.

Time granted

The SHC granted time to the counsels to make their arguments in the plea pertaining to the punishment awarded to Muttahida Qaumi Movement - Pakistan (MQM-P) leader, Aamir Khan, and adjourned the hearing till August 19.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Phulpoto and Justice Agha heard the case in which the counsel for Khan, Mehmood Alam Rizvi, and the prosecutor maintained that they were unprepared.

The appeal against Khan's punishment is pending since 2003. Khan and several others are accused of murdering MQM worker, Anam Aziz. Khan is currently on bail.



'Illegal' hiring

The high court expressed annoyance with the Sindh government over its failure to submit a response to a petition against the hiring of private lawyers to represent it in various cases.

The petitioner, Faaiq Jagirani, stated that as the government had recruited its own counsels and prosecutors, hiring the services of private lawyers by government institutions was illegal. He said that according to the law, neither could the government's counsel represent a private case nor could a private counsel represent the government case. The  court adjourned the hearing for three weeks.

With additional reporting from PPI 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2019.