KARACHI, Oct 3: The Sindh High Court put on Thursday the advocate-general Sindh and other respondents on notice for Oct 15 while hearing a constitutional petition, through which detention of the driver of a person who is sought by police in connection with the recovery of Daniel Pearl’s body has been challenged.
The order was given by a division bench comprising Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Musheer Alam.
Petitioner Rehana’s husband, Fazal Karim, was driver of Maulana Sauood Fattani who is alleged co-owner of the plot of land located at Ahsanabad, Super Highway, from where the dead body of Daniel Pearl was recovered.
Maulana Sauood was wanted by police but police could not arrest him, therefore on May 14 police officials of the CID, headed by Inspector Fayaz, and other members of law-enforcing agencies in plain clothes had arrested the husband of the petitioner.
The petitioner, who was represented by Khwaja Naveed Ahmed, advocate, has maintained that since May 14 her husband has neither been produced in any court of law, nor has he been released by police.
It is the contention of the petitioner that many other people, including her husband, has been in illegal custody of police, and they would be prosecuted as part-II of Daniel Pearl’s murder case.
The step-father of the petitioner’s husband had filed a criminal miscellaneous application as habeas corpus petition for recovery of the petitioner’s husband, but it was dismissed.
It is the case of the petitioner that the respondents have never contradicted the news appearing in a section of the press and that all other persons, including brothers and brother-in-law of Maulana Sauood, have been released.
The petitioner’s husband has not been released or challaned by police up till now. More than four months have passed.
The petitioner maintains that it is her right to know the grounds and place of her husband’s detention besides the material on the basis of which he has been taken in.
It is the petitioner’s case that neither she nor her husband had any concern with Daniel Pearl case and the detention of her husband for the past 4-1/2 months is illegal.
She has therefore prayed for declaring the detention of her husband illegal and for ordering his release. She has also prayed for action against officers who are responsible for her husband’s detention. Her prayer also include grant of compensation for illegal detention.
Chargesheet accepted: Justice Shabbir Ahmed of the High Court of Sindh, who is also the administrative judge of the anti-terrorism courts for Karachi division, accepted on Thursday challan against five alleged activists of the Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Almi and entrusted trial of the case to the ATC-3, adds APP.
The ATC-3 is headed by Judge Arshad Noor Khan.
Accused Nawab Khayyam, Mohammed Asif, Mohammed Zakir, Mohammed Imran and Aminuddin were arrested and booked by the Orangi Town police under sections 8 and 9 of the Anti-terrorism Act of 1997.
Police allegedly recovered audiotapes, books and other printed items containing material prejudicial to sectarian harmony.
Accepting the chargesheet, the administrative judge remanded the accused in judicial custody while fixing Oct 12 the date for commencement of trial against them in the case.
