KARACHI, Dec 10: The Sindh High Court issued notices on Tuesday to the advocate-general and a deputy attorney-general for Dec 23 in three petitions moved by the Mohajir Qaumi Movement MNA and the wives of the party’s three leaders.
MNA Mehmood Ahmed Qureshi submitted in his petitions that as a political party, the MQM (Haqiqi) had a right to open and maintain its offices, which had been sealed. Baitul Hamza, the party headquarters, was in particular sealed in colourable exercise of authority and by abuse of power. He was also under an obligation to serve his constituents but could not do his job properly in the absence of his party offices.
He prayed to the court that the law-enforcement agencies be restrained from interfering in the exercise of his and his party’s fundamental rights.
In their joint petition, the wives of MQM (H) secretary-general Aamir Khan, vice-chairman Younus Khan and treasurer Fayyaz Khan said they and their families were facing hardship and harassment on account of the raids being conducted for the arrest of their husbands, who were entitled to the protection of law. They prayed to the court to ensure that their husbands were dealt with in accordance with law, and the agencies concerned be restrained from conducting raids so that their husbands could rejoin their families.
The petitioners’ counsel, Advocates Sohail Hameed and Abid Hussain, earlier agreed to drop the constitutional functionaries from the list of respondents in view of immunity enjoyed by them under the constitution. The petitions were heard by a division bench comprising Justice Roshan Essani and Justice Ali Aslam Jafri.
MQM (H) chief Afaq Ahmad’s mother also filed a petition against raids on Tuesday. She said the family residence was being raided, though Afaq Ahmad was not living there.
ORDER RESERVED: Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany of the Sindh High Court on Tuesday reserved his order on a State Bank complaint against the proprietors of Alliance Motors.
Filed under the Banking Companies Ordinance, the complaint said the concern indulged in banking business in violation of the law and rules. It solicited and accepted deposits without getting itself registered as a banking company. When its proprietors were issued a showcause notice, they ignored it and continued with their unlawful business.
The proprietors, through their counsel, denied that they carried out banking business. They said they did not seek deposits or serve account holders. People willingly made investments in their concern and they paid them profits.
The court also heard some affected depositors, besides the main complainant.
PROPERTY TAX: The Sindh High Court restrained the provincial excise and taxation department from recovering property tax assessed on the immovable property possessed by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd in the province pending its petition, which was admitted to regular hearing on Tuesday.
The company said in its petition that the property held by it had been leased out to it in perpetuity by the federal government. It was a federal commercial undertaking owned, controlled and managed by the federal government through directors appointed by it. Its properties were not liable to taxation under the Urban Immovable Property Act. Besides, the provincial government or the provincial legislature was not competent to impose taxes on federally-owned property.
Observing that the contentions raised by the petitioner company required consideration, a division bench, comprising Justice S. Ahmed Sarwana and Justice Ataur Rehman, admitted the petition to regular hearing on a date to be fixed by office and stayed the recovery of the impugned levy in the meanwhile.
APPEAL DISMISSED: An appellate bench of the Sindh High Court dismissed on Tuesday an appeal challenging the death sentence awarded to two men, Gul Zameen and Mir Afzal, in a kidnapping for ransom case and commuted their death sentence to life imprisonment, adds PPI.
