KARACHI, Nov 22: A division bench of the Sindh High Court asked federal counsel on Friday to produce a man in the court on Dec 3 while hearing a petition challenging the man’s alleged detention.
Shahjehan Begum filed the petition against illegal detention of her son Rizwan by police.
The bench comprised Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Syed Ali Aslam Jaffery.
AAG Sindh Sarwar Khan submitted that the whereabouts of Rizwan could not be ascertained in any prison of Sindh. He said neither he (Rizwan) was arrested nor was he in the custody of the Sindh police.
The federal counsel, Syed Tariq Ali, on a query stated he wrote a letter to the officials concerned to ascertain the whereabouts of Rizwan.
The court observed it was matter of custody and being ascertained by letters, and said the government was liable to trace Rizwan and produce him in the court.
The federal counsel requested for time, on which the court adjourned the hearing to Dec 3.
Shahjehan Begum stated that law-enforcement agencies arrested her son Sheikh Mohammed Rizwan, aged 23, when in search of his brother Sheikh Mohammed Kamran, aged 26, an activist of the banned Harkatul Mujahideen.
She alleged her son was kept in an unknown place, and she was threatened that he would not be set free until she handed over her other son Kamran. She prayed the court to order the release of her son.
The same bench also put off the hearing of an identical matter pertaining to the alleged detention of Zubair Khawaja. The father of the detainee told the court today that the detainee was taken away by a joint raiding party of law- enforcers, headed by Major Javed of the Pakistan Rangers. The Major gave me a mobile number on which I have talked with him. I have the telephone bill to prove my contention, said the petitioner, submitting that the law-enforcers had detained his innocent son to put pressure for surrender of his another son wanted by the Karachi police.
The court put off further proceedings to Dec 3.
APPEAL REJECTED: An anti-terrorism appellate bench of the Sindh High Court dismissed an appeal preferred by two activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in an Arms Ordinance case.
The bench comprised Justice Wahid Bux Brohi and Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery.
Ghufranullah and Faisal moved the court against their conviction by a Suppression of Terrorist Activities Court which sentenced them to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment each on a charge of being in possession of illegal arms.
Police recovered 17 Kalashnikovs and 12 TT pistols, on a lead given by them, on 20-9-1995.
Mehmood Alam Rizvi represented the appellants.
REFERRED: A criminal miscellaneous application filed by Abdul Sattar Dero, former director shipping of the Port Qasim Authority, seeking his release after serving out sentences was referred to the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court, after dissenting orders were passed by a division bench comprising Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery.
Barrister Azizullah K. Shaikh moved the application maintaining that as per jail record the applicant had served more than nine years’ sentence, and as such he should be released.
An accountability court at Karachi sentenced the accused to a seven-year jail term, with a fine of Rs10 million, and in default to serve two years’ simple imprisonment.
Relying on the record/remission chart/ticket of the convicted accused/ applicant, the counsel maintained that on 13-2-2002 the applicant had undergone a sentence of eight years and seven months. The Sindh governor, while on a visit to the Central Prison, Karachi, on 1-11-2002 allowed one-year remission to prisoners, he contended.
The petitioner had served a sentence more than what was awarded to him by the trial court, said the application.
The accountability reference pertains to alleged corruption and amassing of wealth and property worth millions of rupees by the accused by abusing his official position.—PPI/APP
