SHC rejects KMC report about bear cub

Issuing its written verdict over a plea against keeping a bear cub, Rano, without its mother at the Karachi Zoological Gardens, the Sindh High Court rejected on Monday the report submitted by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) on the matter.

A two-member bench, comprising Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui and Justice Mrs Kausar Sultana, was hearing the plea.

The bench noted that the KMC report claimed everything was in good condition but this was not the case. Animals can communicate with us despite being speechless but the zoo administration appears to be deaf and dumb, it commented.

In the written verdict, the court directed the zoo administration to set up an air conditioner or air cooler for the bear cub within 48 hours.

The bench remarked that if the orders were not complied with, the air conditioner from the office of the zoo director or another official should be removed and installed in Rano's enclosure.

The court further expressed surprise upon learning that there was only one veterinary doctor to take care of the dozens of animals housed at the zoo. It further remarked that the veterinary doctor did not even know which species of animals he was qualified to treat.

The court issued a notice to the Sindh wildlife secretary and formed a committee comprising experts, on the suggestion of Barrister Mohsin Shehwani, the petitioner's counsel.

It directed the committee to prepare a detailed report regarding the health and environment of the animals kept at the Karachi Zoo and submit it in court within two weeks.

Plea rejected

Meanwhile, another bench, comprising Justice KK Agha and Justice Zulfiqar Ali Sangi, rejected the appeal against the sentence awarded to the accused town officer, Mirza Altaf Baig, in a corruption case.

The court amended the verdict issued by the trial court and included the time spent by Baig in prison as part of the sentence's duration. It further directed the convict to pay the penalty imposed on him by the trial court.

Baig had been imprisoned for the last two years after an accountability court sentenced him to 10 years of imprisonment for defrauding citizens.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2020.