Are LEAs helpless before land & water mafias in Sindh, asks SC

Mastermind behind Parween Rehman’s murder not traced despite passage of six years

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has expressed disappointment over not tracing the mastermind behind the murder of renowned social worker Parween Rehman, questioning whether law enforcement agencies (LEAs) are helpless before land and water mafias.

The three-judge apex court bench, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Muneeb Akhtar, on Tuesday resumed hearing of constitution petition filed by Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and others requesting for independent, fair and effective re-investigation into the target killing of social worker and director of Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) Rehman, who was gunned down on March 12, 2014 by two unknown assailants on a motorcycle. Her driver Wali Dad had lodged an FIR.

The matter is pending since 2014.

Despite conducting dozens of hearings, the apex court’s efforts could not yield any fruitful result in tracing the mastermind of her murder.

Two active lawyers Raheel Kamran Sheikh and Faisal Siddiqui are pursuing the matter on behalf of the petitioners in the apex court.

Since 2014, several investigation teams were constituted to probe into the matter. Even a judicial inquiry was conducted by the Karachi district and sessions judge but progress was not made.
Last year, the petitioners requested the SC to form a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) consisting of officials of federal agencies. The court accepted their plea and formed the JIT.

Despite the passage of six months, JIT head Babar Bakht Qureshi appeared before the bench and requested for two-month time to conclude the investigation.
Upon this, the bench wondered over the reasons behind the delay in the matter.

“This matter is turning into a mystery as six years have gone by already. What are the LEAs doing,” wondered Justice Ahsan.

He asked what was the LEAs doing since 2013 and whether these mafias were out of their reach.
The bench also noted that the JIT had been constituted because LEAs were not doing their job. "Mafias have killed people who are involved in social work," said Justice Bandial.

The bench was told that the previous head of JIT had been transferred.

The new head, Qureshi, Director Counter-terrorism Wing in FIA, had been directed to complete the investigation in two months and till then his transfer to any other post or position had been restrained.

He has also been asked to submit an interim investigation report within three weeks for perusal in chambers.