Petition against Lyari offensive put off over paperwork
CID SSP Chaudhry Aslam’s lawyer says he never received the petition.
KARACHI:
The police have asked for more time to respond to a petition questioning their operation in Lyari and the hearing was adjourned for May 16 on Tuesday.
For about eight days the police and other law-enforcement agencies had 1,400 men fighting alleged gangsters in the neighbourhood. No major high-profile arrests were declared.
CID SSP Chaudhry Aslam was one of the officers leading the offensive. His lawyer, Muhammad Farooq, said that as they did not have a copy of the petition they needed more time. A similar stance was taken by the other police officers assailed, including the inspector general and DIG of Karachi.
The Sindh High Court’s Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Nadeem Akhtar directed them to file their comments by the next hearing.
The petition has been filed by Salahuddin Gandapur, a lawyer, who is also a member of the Sindh Bar Council and is appearing in person. He argues that despite claims made daily by the police they achieved no headway and only the general public suffered in the gunfights.
He wants the court to declare the police operation as illegal and in violation of fundamental rights of citizens.
According to the petitioner, more than 50 people were killed while another 200 were injured in the seven-day long operation.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2012.
The police have asked for more time to respond to a petition questioning their operation in Lyari and the hearing was adjourned for May 16 on Tuesday.
For about eight days the police and other law-enforcement agencies had 1,400 men fighting alleged gangsters in the neighbourhood. No major high-profile arrests were declared.
CID SSP Chaudhry Aslam was one of the officers leading the offensive. His lawyer, Muhammad Farooq, said that as they did not have a copy of the petition they needed more time. A similar stance was taken by the other police officers assailed, including the inspector general and DIG of Karachi.
The Sindh High Court’s Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Nadeem Akhtar directed them to file their comments by the next hearing.
The petition has been filed by Salahuddin Gandapur, a lawyer, who is also a member of the Sindh Bar Council and is appearing in person. He argues that despite claims made daily by the police they achieved no headway and only the general public suffered in the gunfights.
He wants the court to declare the police operation as illegal and in violation of fundamental rights of citizens.
According to the petitioner, more than 50 people were killed while another 200 were injured in the seven-day long operation.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2012.