Drug case: Former Karachi commissioner’s son granted bail

The son of former Karachi commissioner Aziz Ashrafi granted bail against solvent surety of Rs0.1 million.

KARACHI: The son of former Karachi commissioner Aziz Ashrafi was granted bail on Thursday against a solvent surety of Rs0.1 million.

The applicant, Hamid Ashrafi, was arrested by Sohrab Goth police in a drug case after they allegedly seized two kilogrammes of cannabis (charas) from him and a co-accused, Muqeem Ahmed.

Shaukat Hayat, counsel for defence, argued that the accused owns 103 acres in Scheme 33 in Karachi and that land has been encroached upon by different groups of land mafia.

Due to this fight over land, a number of litigations, including constitutional petitions, FIRs and counter-FIRs, are pending trial.

The counsel submitted that Ashrafi was implicated in a false case and deserves bail.

The bench, comprising Justice Mohammad Ather Saeed, after hearing the state counsel, granted the bail to the accused against the surety.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2010.