Sulaiman Lashari case: Physical custody remand of suspects extended by four days

The defence counsel’s plea for contempt of court was declined.

KARACHI:

An anti-terrorism court extended, on Friday, the physical custody remand of the suspects in the Sulaiman Lashari murder case.

When the case was taken up on Friday, the defence counsel moved an application under Section 19 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997, requesting the court to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the investigation officer (IO) for violating the ATA Section as well as Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).

The defence counsel said that, according to the ATA, the joint investigation team (JIT) was bound to complete the investigation in seven days and submit a report before the court.

While opposing further physical custody remand of the suspects, he said that 14 days have passed and the IO has not submitted a charge sheet in the case and that there was no progress or solid ground for extension in remand.

However, the district public prosecutor, Abdul Maroof, argued that amendments were made in Section 19 of the ATA and the time to submit the charge sheet was increased to 30 days. Referring to the amendments, the prosecutor said that remand under section 21-E of the ATA could be extended to 90 days.

Although a JIT is optional under the ATA, the government has constituted the team to ensure a fair and impartial investigation, said Maroof. He requested the court to extend the remand so that the police could complete the investigation of the case.

The court granted a four-day remand to the suspects and adjourned the case till May 27.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24^th, 2014.