Appearing before a division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Chief Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Ahmed Ali M Sheikh on Wednesday, Additional Advocate General Sindh, Sarwar Khan, submitted a letter by a joint secretary of the federal law ministry, stating that information has been sought from the British diplomatic channel about the whereabouts of Khalid Shamim. He assured that court would be informed accordingly. The bench ordered that such information be submitted on, or before, the next hearing.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by Beena Khalid, who went to court for the recovery of her husband, Khalid Shamim, missing since June 5, 2011. She stated that Shamim went to draw money from an ATM at Malir Halt, when personnel of law enforcing agencies whisked him away in two cars bearing official registration number plates.
Sarwar Khan also informed the court that Shamim has not been handed over to any agency within or outside Pakistan.
Later, an official of the Airport Security Force, appearing on court notice, stated that the SHO concerned had sought CCTV footage but it was not available because of a limited recording capacity. It is deleted once the memory overflows.
The court noted with concern that the LEA came into action only when a case comes before a court of law.
The bench also inquired from the investigating officer about the information sought from two local newspapers, one each in Urdu and English, that carried the story about the arrest of the missing Khalid Shamim and his alleged connection with the murder of Dr Imran Farooq. The investigating officer was directed to inquire about the source of the news item.
As he told the court that he has written letters to the newspapers’ management, the bench said that he should “personally visit the places and extract the necessary information.”
The court adjourned the proceedings till December 13 when all such other petitions were fixed for hearing.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 1st, 2011.
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