KARACHI, Aug 18: An inordinate delay is being caused in the commencement of the jail trial of the accused in sectarian and terrorism cases, as the provincial authorities are dragging their feet in making the necessary arrangements for the sitting of anti-terrorism courts inside the prison.

Terming the provincial government’s decision to hold the jail trial of three workers of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and four workers of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi “impractical and unfeasible,” the sources said that the judges of the ATCs were taken by surprise when they learnt about the notification of the jail trial, as the higher judiciary had earlier been assured that the government would not notify jail trial of any case by the ATCs.

They recalled that such an assurance had been given by the additional home secretary during a meeting attended by Justices Sabihuddin Ahmed and Shabir Ahmed of the Sindh High Court, and the four judges of the ATCs.

The sources said that following the meeting, the provincial government had even withdrawn the notifications, issued for the jail trial of some workers of the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba and Tehrik-i-Jaffria.

The jail trial of over 30 cases against three workers of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Al-Aalmi and four workers of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi was notified by the provincial home department on Aug 13.

The police have submitted the final charge-sheets (challans) in as many as 21 cases against them. The ATC-4, headed by Judge Khan Pervaiz Chang, has been assigned the trial of as many as nine cases. The ATC-3, headed by Judge Arshad Noor Khan, eight cases, and Judge Abdul Ghafoor Memon of ATC-2 and Judge Aley Maqbool Rizvi of ATC-1 have been assigned the trial of two cases each.

Mohammed Ajmal, alias Akram Lahori, the self-styled chief of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, was involved in as many as 30 cases, including 26 sectarian murder cases. Mohammed Azam, alias Sharif and Attaullah alias Atta Qasim — two other workers of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi — were co-accused with Lahori in as many as 24 murder cases. The fourth worker of the Lashkar, Tassaduq Hussain alias Shaikh, son of Hashmat Ullah, was involved in 14 murder cases.

Besides, provincial authorities also notified the jail trial of two workers of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in the cases pertaining to the car bomb attack on the US consulate and conspiracy to kill the president of Pakistan. The trial of as many as six cases against Mohammed Imran was notified to be conducted inside the jail. Five cases against him pertained to the bomb blasts. Mohammed Hanif, another worker of the Harkat, was co-accused with Imran in five cases. He was also booked for hatching a plot to destroy the car of President Musharraf by explosion. The third worker of the Harkat was booked in five cases and was co-accused with the two workers in a couple of cases.

The jail superintendent of the Central Prison, Karachi, which has only one courtroom inside the century-old penitentiary, appeared on Saturday before Judge Khan Pervaiz Chang, seeking three day’s time for discussing the arrangements for holding the jail trial. The judge granted his request and ordered him to submit his reply on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, sources at the ATCs told Dawn that the ATC judges were reluctant to conduct the trial of the sectarian party workers inside the jail mainly due to their concerns for the security of their staff and court record.

They said that the ATC judges would be seeking the intervention of the Sindh High Court in this connection very shortly, as they were quite anxious for the security of the court staff, who would be shuttling between the courts and the Central Prison with the record of such sensitive cases.

The sources said a police mobile van, manned by two or three policemen, escorted an ATC judge from his residence to the courts, but there were no security arrangements for the court staff.

Sources said that the ATC judges, who had earlier demanded the federal government to provide life insurance cover for them and their families, were concerned for the security of their staff and the record of their respective courts.

“When the authorities could move these accused from one court to another court for seeking remands and identification parade, why can’t they bring them to the open court,” the sources quoted one of the ATC judges as saying.

“This is sheer inefficiency on part of the police if they are unable to make foolproof security arrangements for the production of the accused in open courts,” they said.

Besides, the prosecutors of the ATCs were also stated to be in a fix as they were not being provided adequate security.

The sources said the prosecutors also demanded of the home department to make extraordinary security arrangements for them and their families, as they were dealing with the cases of terrorism and sectarian violence.