HYDERABAD, May 6: Justice Syed Ali Ashraf Shah of the Anti- Terrorism Court, Hyderabad, on Monday appointed two lawyers to represent the three accused persons in the Daniel Pearl case.

He issued the instructions because their counsel, Rai Basheer, failed to turn-up in the court once again on Monday.

The judge issued notices to both the counsels to present the ‘pauper’ accused on the next date.

The court also directed the superintendent of central prison to ensure provision of proper diet to Salman Saqib, one of the accused persons, on his application wherein it was prayed that he was suffering from Hepatitis-C.

The judge adjourned the case for May 8, when in the absence of Rai Basheer, counsel for the three accused, another defence counsel, Abdul Wahid Katpar, raised objection on examination of two prosecution witnesses.

Ahmed Omer Saeed Sheikh, Adil Sheikh, Salman Saqib and Fahad Naseem were present in the court.

The court would also record the evidence of two members of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who had been part and parcel of the investigation team of Pakistani police in Karachi that had investigated the kidnapping of US journalist Daniel Pearl.

However, the identity of two FBI officials had not been disclosed.

Principal accused Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaikh also informed the court that his counsel had moved the apex court for getting the order of the Sindh High Court set aside.

After proceedings began, it were adjourned for a short while on Monday morning to get it confirmed whether the Supreme Court had granted any stay in the matter.

Sindh Advocate-General Raja Qureshi received a fax from Islamabad and brought it to the notice of the court that the Supreme Court had heard the criminal appeal, filed by K. M. Samdani, counsel for four accused in the case, challenging the April 30 order of a division bench of the Sindh High Court regarding transferring of the case to Hyderabad, but did not grant any stay.

He said the hearing of the appeal has been fixed for May 9. He insisted that evidence of at least one of the two prosecution witnesses should be recorded because the case was to be concluded within seven days after the commencement of trial.

However, the defence did not agree and Mr Katpar filed an application, seeking adjournment on two separate grounds.

The court adjourned the matter for May 8, though Mr Katpar argued that the case should be fixed either on or after May 9.

Talking to newsmen, Mr Katpar said that all the accused were present in the court. He said that accused Salman Saqib was suffering from Hepatitis-C, and has been refused any treatment.

He said that he considered the present trial as an in-camera one because no person from outside the jail premises is being allowed entry into the court.

The court declared three accused, Sheikh Adil, Salman Saqib and Fahad Naseem as ‘pauper’ and appointed two lawyers, Umer Deen Qureshi and Agha Khuda Bux, to represent them on state expenses as per law.

According to Mr Katpar, a prayer has been made in the criminal appeal, filed in the Supreme Court, that the April 30 order of a division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad and Justice Ghulam Rabbani may be set aside and the case should be transferred back to the Karachi Central Jail to be decided by ATC-2 Judge Abdul Ghafoor Memon.

RELATIVES: Aslam Sheikh, brother of Adil Sheikh, and Syed Abdul Rauf, father of Salman Saqib, also witnessed the proceedings, but they were not provided any opportunity to meet the detenus.