Punjab secy challenges arrest warrants

ISLAMABAD: Punjab’s Secretary Prosecution Rana Maqbool Ahmad on Saturday filed an application in the Supreme Court of Pakistan against a 2009 verdict of the Sindh High Court issuing his arrest warrants in a case in which he was accused of trying to murder (now President) Asif Zardari during police custody in 1999.

Rana Maqbool, through his legal counsel Akram Sheikh, filed the petition in the apex court making President Zardari a party. “It is the first criminal case filed against President Zardari,” said Akram Sheikh.

The Punjab secretary filed the criminal petition for leave to appeal against the judgment passed by the judge in chamber of Sindh High Court on April 28, 2009, whereby revision plea filed by Asif Zardari was accepted against the order of September 13, 2006, passed by the additional sessions judge, Karachi south, cancelling the case FIR (No.16/2005).

Rana prayed to the court to suspend the operation of the April 28, 2009 (SHC) judgment by accepting his application.

In his petition, Rana raised several questions of law, asking whether revisional jurisdiction of the high court is discretionary in nature which does not confer any right in litigants but is a supervisory power to be exercised only to correct such jurisdictional defects as would result in miscarriage of justice in matters coming up for adjudication before criminal courts? Also, whether a complainant in a criminal case can invoke jurisdiction of the high court in criminal revision to call in question an order of discharge, particularly when alternative remedy of private complaint is available to him in law?

Regardless of lawfulness and truth or otherwise of the findings of the inquiry officer, it is an undeniable fact that there was nothing whatsoever on the record of the inquiry officer to indicate any involvement at any level of the petitioner with the occurrence alleged, Rana stated in his plea.

The report did refer to surmises, conjectures and assumptions made by Zardari who attributed his injury to a grand conspiracy to murder him involving Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif, Governor Moeenud-din Haider and the petitioner.

Rana held that none of the police officers present “at the time and on the scene of occurrence” on May 17 and May 19, 1999, have been accused by Zardari. Different people have been accused by him in his statements during the inquiry before the sessions judge and during investigation under section 161, and that he has made additions and deletions.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 11^th, 2010.