SC rejects petition by police in Perween Rahman murder case

Petition maintains Baloch shared incorrect facts in the case

KARACHI: The Supreme Court (SC) rejected on Monday the petition moved by the police department against the decision of the service tribunal pertaining to the murder of Perween Rahman, the director of Orangi Pilot Project.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Faisal heard the case at the SC’s Karachi registry. The Sindh service tribunal, instead of dismissing the sub-inspector, Ashfaq Baloch, had issued orders for his forced retirement. The court rejected the police’s appeal as it was approached after the period for registering an appeal against the service tribunal had expired.

The petition maintained that Baloch had shared incorrect facts in Perween Rahman murder case and had staged a fake encounter after Rahman’s murder in which Qari Bilal was shot dead.

According to Baloch, Bilal was an important suspect in the Perween Rahman murder case.

Later, the joint investigation team (JIT) proved that the encounter was staged and Bilal was not in any way linked to the murder case.

The higher police authorities had termed Baloch’s claim a big success and after his claim was proven false, Baloch was dismissed on the grounds of staging a fake encounter and reporting incorrect facts.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25^th, 2019.