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KARACHI, Aug 8: The Sindh High Court on Friday issued notices to all respondents, including the Thai ambassador to Pakistan and the consul-general in the city, for August 15 in a petition agitating disappearance of businessman Saifullah Paracha.
A division bench comprising Justices Shabbir Ahmed and Gulzar Ahmed asked the federal government standing counsel, Syed Ziauddin Nasir, to submit comments on behalf of the foreign and interior ministries and the Federal Investigation Agency by the next date.
The counsel submitted that according to the FIA comments and the passengers’ manifest filed by him in the previous petition on the same subject, Mr Paracha did board the Thai Airways flight number TG502 to Bangkok and travelled on seat number 62F on July 5. He informed his wife, petitioner Farhat Paracha, from the Karachi airport that he had been cleared for the flight after the completion of all formalities. Had he been offloaded, the manifest would have mentioned the fact. The FIA got in touch with the Thai ambassador and consul-general following a court direction and they promised help.
The bench nevertheless asked the counsel to file fresh comments as he might receive more information.
In reply to a court query, the petitioner’s counsel, Nisar A. Mujahid, submitted that the Thai ambassador and the consul-general could be impleaded and issued notices as they enjoyed no immunity in respect of civil matters under the 1991 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Among other respondents in the petition are the director-general of the Civil Aviation Authority, Thai Airways and the Airport Security Force.
The bench brought on record a Sindh police statement that Mr Paracha was neither arrested or nor detained by it.
PETITION DISPOSED OF: The Sindh High Court disposed of as infructuous on Friday writ petitions moved on behalf of Muttahida Qaumi Movement leaders Dr Imran Farooq, Saleem Shahzad and 14 others questioning the validity of a notification announcing payment of ‘head money’ ranging from Rs500,000 to Rs3 million to any individual for apprehending them alive or dead.
Additional Advocate-General M. Ahmad Pirzada informed the court that the impugned notification, issued by the provincial government in January 1995, had since been withdrawn. The petitioners’ counsel did not press the petitions and a division bench comprising Chief Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad and Justice Ghulam Rabbani directed that the petitions be disposed of as infructuous.
The petitioners stated that following an operation against their party in 1992, they were implicated in a number of false cases and declared absconders. Hefty cash rewards were announced for their seizure ‘dead or alive’ and even private citizens were empowered in this behalf.
They said the ‘head money’ was fixed despite a Sindh High Court judgment declaring it unlawful and a Supreme Court order refusing the provincial government leave to appeal against the judgment. The notification, they said, was violative of a number of constitutional provisions, including Articles 2-A (the Objectives Resolution), 4 (right to be dealt with in accordance with law), 14 (dignity of man), 17 (freedom of association) and 25 (equality of citizens).
