Representational image. PHOTO: REUTERS
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) disposed on Thursday a plea seeking the formation of a joint investigation team (JIT) and the inclusion of sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act in a case registered against more than eight accused of lynching a teenager, 15-year-old Rehan, to death.
The move by a two-member bench, comprising Justice Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Irshad Ali Shah, came in the wake of the submission of a copy of the compromise agreement, bearing the signatures of Rehan's parents and the respondents, by the counsel for the accused.
According to the plea, Zubair Khan, Shakib, Shariq, Daniyal Yousuf, Anas and other accused had "brutally tortured Rehan after stripping him naked," an act that warranted the inclusion of terrorism charges in the case.
Earlier, the plaintiff's lawyer had expressed reservations over reaching a settlement in the case, arguing that "coming to a settlement in such cases let the accused walk free and [the move] encourages them to again commit the same offence." He had opined that even if the plaintiff backed off in such cases, the government should take it upon itself to continue the case proceedings.
On August 17, 2019, a video had surfaced on social media showing a teenager being lynched and subjected to torture with his hands tied. Persons accused of the offence were later arrested by Bahadurabad police.
Progress report sought
Another bench, comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed, sought the progress report on the renovation of 10,000 schools in Sindh.
The directive was issued during the hearing of a plea seeking education reforms in the province.
At the hearing, Sindh Private Schools Association director Mansoob Siddiqui submitted a report to the court. He informed the court that 10 per cent of underprivileged children in the province were being provided education and 22,000 children were being taught for free.
The petitioner's lawyers said, "Neither are new schools being constructed in the province nor are more students being admitted to schools." At this, the court inquired about the number of private schools in Sindh.
Siddiqui informed the court that over 12,000 private schools were operating in Sindh, where more than 2.7 million children were acquiring education.
The court asked what action was taken against schools not providing free education, to which Siddiqui responded that their registration was suspended.
Later, the petitioner's counsel said that it was promised that 10,000 schools in the province would be renovated but no progress was made in this regard.
The court sought a report on the progress of the renovation of the schools and adjourned the hearing till February 27.
Bail granted
Meanwhile, another two-member bench, headed by SHC Chief Justice Ahmed Ali Shaikh and comprising Justice Omar Sial, granted bail to former director general of Karachi Development Authority, Nasir Abbas, accused in a case of illegal allotment of amenity plots.
The petitioner's counsel, Aamir Naqvi, claimed that his client was arrested without the issuance of a warrant, terming his arrest by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) "illegal and unconstitutional." He said Abbas was granted bail in other cases and asked why he was being held without a warrant.
In response to the counsel's arguments, the court approved Abbas' bail.
NAB Karachi DG summoned
The same bench summoned NAB Karachi director general (DG), seeking an explanation for the absence of the investigation officer (IO) from the hearing of a corruption case registered against Qasimabad taluka municipal officer Hatim Mallah and three others.
At the hearing, the NAB prosecutor informed the court that IO Khaliq Zaman had gone to perform Umrah and would return after a day.
Irked by the IO's absence, the court remarked, "Sometimes he goes to perform umrah and other times he is visiting Islamabad." If that was how matters were to continue then close down NAB, the court rebuked. Expressing further annoyance, the court said that the inquiry against the four accused in the case had been underway but the IO had not been able to prove corruption charges against them yet. Everybody knows how NAB's IOs function, the court commented.
Concluding the hearing, the court issued a notice to NAB Karachi DG, directing him to appear before the court at the next hearing on January 30.
Petition filed
Meanwhile, a constitutional petition seeking a probe into the funds of local government institutions was filed in the high court.
In the petition, citizen Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi asked for the formation of a JIT to investigate the release of funds to local bodies institutions and their spending, as well as to probe into the tasks undertaken by local bodies representatives. The petition moved the court to order the inclusion of the offenders' names in the Exit Control List, as suggested by the JIT.
The provincial chief secretary, local government secretary, NAB DG and the Auditor General of Pakistan have been nominated as parties in the plea among others.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 24th, 2020.
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