KARACHI, Dec 11: Justice Ghulam Rabbani of the Sindh High Court stayed proceedings before the trial court in an alleged electricity theft case.
The judge was hearing a criminal miscellaneous application filed by Noman Baqi Siddiqui, the chief executive of a local marble factory, who was booked by the KESC police on a charge of electricity theft.
When the matter came up for hearing, the counsel for the applicant, Anwar Tarique, submitted that his client wanted to implead the KESC as a party in the matter. He sought time for doing so.
The state counsel, Jawed Akhtar, raised no objection to this contention and the judge, while putting off the matter till Jan 14, stayed proceedings in the matter before the trial court.
The judge also directed the applicant to implead the KESC as a party within the next three days.
Another bench of SHC, comprising Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice S. Ali Aslam Jafri, disposed of a constitutional petition filed by Syed Iqbal Haider of the Muslim Welfare Movement and Amin Memon against Haneef Builders who are allegedly raising an illegal structure/building in Pakistan Chowk area.
When the matter was called, the petitioners were not present. However, the court asked the officials of Karachi Building Control Authority to take legal action.
HEARING PUT OFF: An anti-terrorism appellate bench of the Sindh High Court adjourned on Tuesday the hearing of an appeal filed by Shaikh Mohammed Amjad challenging the death sentence awarded to him by an ATC on charges of kidnapping and killing a young lawyer, Barrister Shakir Latif, to Jan 15.
When hearing began on Tuesday before the bench, comprising Justice Ghulam Nabi Soomro and Justice Ataur Rahman, Meer Mohammed Shaikh filed power of attorney on behalf of the appellant and sought time. The court fixed Jan 15 the next date of hearing.
The court also adjourned the hearing of a connecting application filed by the appellant’s wife Nabeela Amjad challenging the order of confiscation of her car (ABG-765) by the trial court, to Jan 15.
On Oct 3, Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the ATC-III Karachi awarded death sentence, on two counts, to Shaikh Mohammed Amjad with a fine of Rs200,000.
According to the prosecution, accused Shaikh Amjad kidnapped his nextdoor neighbour Shakir Latif on July 29 and subsequently killed him by giving him poison in a juice the same day. After committing the crime, the accused contacted the dead man’s father, Fazalur Rahman, on telephone and demanded a ransom of Rs20 million. The CPLC and police traced the location of his phone call and on Aug 4 arrested him at a phone booth in Saddar area.
Later, on his lead police recovered the body of Shakir from the trunk of his own car parked in a rented house in DHA. The Civil Lines police lodged a case against the accused under Sections 365-A and 302 of PPC and submitted challan in the ATC-III.
KIDNAPPING CASE: Justice Shabbir Ahmed of the Sindh High Court, who is also the administrative judge of the anti-terrorism courts in Karachi, gave four days to the Saeedabad police to submit challan of two accused, Liaquat Ali and Shahbaz, allegedly involved in kidnapping a minor girl for ransom.
The court directed the investigation officer of the case to submit the final challan by Dec 14.
According to the prosecution, on Nov 28 accused Liaquat and Shahbaz kidnapped a three-and-a-half-year-old girl, Ramsha, and contacted her father, Rab Nawaz, and demanded Rs200,000 million ransom. The father informed police of the incident and on Nov 30 police arrested Liaquat at a public call office. Police registered a case against the accused.—APP/PPI
