'Sindh misusing Supreme Court Pearl accused order'

Counsels for the accused in Daniel Pearl murder case have contended that the Sindh government is misusing an earlier Supreme Court order to keep their clients under unlawful detention.

A three-judge, headed by Justice Mushir Alam, on Tuesday resumed hearing of the appeals filed by the PPP led Sindh government and Pearl family against the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) April 2020 order

A SHC division bench on April 2 commuted the death sentence of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh to seven years and acquitted three others who were serving life terms for abducting and killing Wall Street Journal’s former South Asia bureau chief Denial Pearl in 2002.

The PPP led provincial government had swiftly challenged the April 2 order in the Supreme Court. The Sindh government had also immediately detained the four men under Section 3 (1) of West Pakistan Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance 1960.

The same SHC division bench, however, annulled the detention order on December 24 and ordered the Sindh government to immediately release the four men. This order elicited immediate response from the US which on December 25 expressed its “deep concerns” over the SHC order.

The provincial government had, however, not released the accused as it contended that the Supreme Court’s September 28 order with regard to Daniel Pearl case accused was still in the field.

Hearing appeals against the SHC April 2 order, the SC bench on September 28 noted that till the next date of hearing, the respondents – Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, Fahad Nasim Ahmed, Syed Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adil – shall not be released.

On Tuesday, the accused counsels said the SC on September 28 issued an interim order on request of the Sindh government not to release the accused till October 7. They said on October 7 the apex court bench did not extend the interim order.

“There is no court order now to keep the accused in detention after October 7. However, the Sindh government is not releasing the men. The Sindh government is falsely claiming that the apex court has stopped it from releasing the accused,” said one of the counsels.

The counsels requested the SC to issue an order on detention of the four men, arguing that the SHC has already accepted their application against illegal detention of the accused. Justice Mushir Alam noted that the court will issue an order on this point as the bench adjourned the case till today [Wednesday].