All parties to appear in recruitment irregularities case

Petitioning MQM MPAs say the rule of law must be followed

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday directed all parties to appear on May 23, with due preparation, in a petition filed by MQM MPAs against alleged irregularities in the recruitment of more than 21,310 vacant positions in the Sindh government.

A bench, headed by Justice KK Agha, heard the plea of ​​MQM MPAs. Party leader Kunwar Naveed Jamil and others submitted a written reply. The MQM leader said he believed in the rule of law.

"We believe in fair dealing when it comes to jobs. I want the court to hear the case on merit" he said.

Advocate Tariq Mansoor stated that the Sindh Cabinet had awarded the recruitment contract to IBA Sukkur. "There have been massive irregularities in recruitment," he claimed. "The court has ordered to stop the recruitment process from the testing service."

When MQM Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui took to the stand, he was asked by Justice KK Agha if he supported the petition. "We believe in the rule of law," the political leader replied.

"We have heard that negotiations are also ongoing over these issues," Justice KK Agha said. "If the case is fixed for hearing, we will not allow it to be withdrawn."

"These are our members," Siddiqui said. "They believe that an injustice is taking place. The people have the right to go to court. I want to say that MQM is not a party in this case. However, the moral support of the party is with them."

The court accepted the applications of NTS and CTS to become parties in the case. The court objected to the request of MQM leaders. Justice KK Agha remarked that he would first hear arguments on admissibility of the petition.

Advocate Mansoor stated that this was a case of public interest. Justice KK replied that "This is a case of public interest according to you."

Mansoor stated that this case had been proven with facts and asked court's permission to present his arguments.

The court, however, remarked that a detailed hearing of the case would be held on Monday. The court directed all parties to come prepared and adjourned the hearing till Monday, May 23.

Sentence overturned

The SHC has accepted the petition of suspects convicted of terrorism and annulled the decision of a lower court which had sentenced in an imambargah blast case.

A two-member bench, headed by Justice KK Agha, ruled on the petition against the sentence of the suspects. It observed that the prosecution failed to prove the crime. The court accepted the plea of the accused Ishaq alias Bobby alias Hussain and Asim Capri and declared the lower court's decision null and void.

"If the accused were not involved in any other case, they should be released," the court said. According to the prosecution, the accused were charged with bombing an Imambargah in FC Area during October 2016. A civilian, Faraz, was killed, and 30 people were injured in the blast.

The lower court sentenced Ishaq alias Bobby alias Hussain and Asim Capri, allegedly of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, to death twice. The accused have been found guilty of numerous crimes, including the assassination of world-famous qawwal Amjad Sabri.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2022.