Karachi violence case: SC orders Sindh IG, Rangers DG to fall on no-go areas from today

Judges question why DG Rangers has failed to appear two days in a row.

KARACHI:

With no room left to debate over the definition of no-go areas, the larger bench of the Supreme Court ordered Sindh IG and Rangers DG to “personally” lead the operations to eliminate such areas from today. And with that, the Sindh government was also given 15 days to bring peace to Karachi.

The hearing of the Karachi law and order suo motu implementation case on Friday picked up from the day before when the Rangers DG stated that there were no no-go areas in Lyari. On the contrary, DIG Shahid Hayat accepted that the area was indeed a place where law enforcers fear to tread.

“Where is the joint statement by the Sindh IG and Rangers DG Major General Rizwan Akhtar that we asked for yesterday,” asked the bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, and comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan. “Maybe our English wasn’t perfect but we made ourselves clear that we expect a joint statement.”



Justice Chaudhry spared the Rangers’ counsel Shahid Anwar Bajwa no concession when grilling him over the Rangers DG statement that there were no no-go areas in the city. “We will have a test to verify the statement by sending the media to these areas. The time has gone when things could be hidden.”

It seemed that the judges were not convinced by Bajwa’s replies as he was repeatedly cut off with reminders of yesterday’s statement by his client, who said that the Rangers DG had no information about no-go areas. “Where is the Rangers DG - if the IGP can come to the court, why can’t he?” asked the irked chief justice. “It appears that maybe he has a problem with the court since he failed to appear on Thursday as well.” Bajwa clarified that the Major General Akhtar had excused himself due to important meetings.

In an attempt to clarify the Rangers’ position, Bajwa said that Major General Akhtar has stated that there we no no-go areas, not no-criminal areas - this reply clearly didn’t set well with the bench and neither did the advocate’s demeanor. “We are not adversaries but it seems that you’re contesting the court,” said Justice Khawaja, putting Bajwa on the spot. “We know the language of a lawyer and understand their attitudes - we’ve spent our lives on these benches,” added the chief justice.

Definition of no-go areas

“A no-go area doesn’t only mean that you cannot enter a locality but that there should be no mafia and extortionists roaming about,” said Justice Khawaja. Justice Chaudhry went back to the joint statement that was asked from the Sindh chief secretary, Sindh IG and Rangers DG. “This is not a joke - go and come with a statement now so we can establish what no-go areas are.”

As a relief to Bajwa, the acting Sindh chief secretary Arif Ahmed Khan, approached the bench and offered a definition which was accepted by the judges. “A no-go area is one where the government cannot exercise its writ.”

He told the bench that the previous statement by the Rangers was not based on this definition.

SSP Niaz Khosa confessed, however, to the judges that even if the police manage to catch criminals, all it takes is a phone call to set them free.

The judges ordered the joint operation by Sindh IG and Rangers DG should start today. “We will find a way to receive daily updates. The court also sought details of the killings and tortured bodies found during the last one month in Lyari.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2013.