During the hearing, special public prosecutor Sajib Mehboob Shaikh informed a two-member bench, comprising Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro and Justice Mubeen Lakho, that Rangers had conducted a raid in Urdu Bazaar in April, 2017, to arrest terrorists from banned outfit Jundallah, to whom Nasrullah had rented his house.
Presenting his final arguments, the prosecutor said that four Rangers personnel were injured and as many terrorists killed during the raid.
He maintained that since it had been proven that Nasrullah had rented his house to the terrorists, the sentence meted out to him by the trial court was in accordance with the law.
The court reserved its verdict on the plea and adjourned the hearing.
According to the police, a trial court had sentenced Nasrullah to 10 years of imprisonment and imposed on him a fine of Rs1 million.
Ban on Qingqis
At another hearing, the court issued notices to the Sindh chief secretary, home secretary, transport secretary and other relevant authorities, seeking their replies on a plea contesting the ban on Qingqi rickshaws during the lockdown in Sindh.
"The lockdown has been relaxed across the country and standard operating procedures (SOPs) have been issued for the restoration of other public transport vehicles, trains and aeroplanes," the petitioner's counsel stated, moving the court to order the formulation of SOPs for Qingqi rickshaws as well as their restoration.
Qingqi rickshaws are a source of earning for thousands of low-income workers, he said.
At this, the court issued notices to the Sindh chief secretary, home secretary, transport secretary and other relevant authorities, directing them to submit their replies on the plea on June 30.
Restriction upheld
Meanwhile, a two-member bench, comprising Justice Omar Sial and Justice Zulfiqar Ali Sangi, upheld the restriction on the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), barring it from taking action against prisons adviser Aijaz Jakhrani in an assets beyond means case.
Briefing the court on the progress of the NAB investigation against Jakhrani, the NAB prosecutor said that the anti-graft watchdog was looking into development plans on which Jakhrani had worked.
He informed the court that a NAB team had visited the sites for five of 11 of those plans so far and sought an extension from the court to complete the investigation.
The court upheld the restriction on NAB, barring it from taking action against Jakhrani and adjourned the hearing until the first week of September.
Extension granted
The bench also granted an extension to the NAB to complete its probe against Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders Sardar Khan Chandio and Burhan Khan Chandio.
At the hearing, the NAB prosecutor informed the court that the status of the probe had been changed from inquiry to investigation and solid evidence had been collected, proving their involvement in illegally leasing state land to an oil manufacturing company.
He sought more time for the completion of the investigation.
The court granted the NAB an extension and adjourned the hearing till September 28. It also extended the interim bails of the accused until then.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2020.
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