KARACHI: High court sends back murder case for retrial
KARACHI, Oct 23: A division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Justice Ghulam Nabi Soomro and Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany on Thursday adjourned the hearing of the appeal of the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan’s activists against the death sentence in a sectarian killing case awarded to them by an STA court in Karachi.
State’s attorney Sarwar Khan concluded his arguments today. He supported the conviction awarded to the appellants by the trial court and pleaded the court to dismiss their appeals. The court fixed October 29, 2003 for further proceedings.
Special Judge of STA-III Karachi, on November 27 1995, sentenced to death and awarded other punishments to SSP activists Mansoor Ali Babar, Umer Hayat, Syed Asif Ali, Muhammad Fazil Muhammad Gulzar, Khwaja Saleemuddin and Muhammad Ahmed on charge of killing 15 persons at Imam Bargah Mehfil-i-Murtuza in PECHS and six others at Imambargah Abul Fazal Abbas at the PIB Colony Karachi on February 25, 1995.
Ashraf Kazi and Azizullah Sheikh advocates are representing the appellants.
MURDER CASE: A division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Justice Wahid Bux Brohi and Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery on Thursday remanded back the case of five men against conviction awarded to them by a trial court in a murder case, and directed the trial court to decide their matter within four months.
Appellants Nazir Ahmed and Dilawar Khan were sentenced to death, and Ghulam Ali, Asghar Ali and Dr Abdul Jalil were awarded life imprisonment by the additional district and session judge Badin on February 8, 2001. They are charged with killing two persons, Ghulam Muhammad and Sultan Ahmed, on August 27, 1997 in Deh Siargi Badin.
WARRANTS: A division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Justice Ataur Rehman and Justice Gulzar Ahmed issued warrants for ex-MNA Abu Bakar Sheikhani, his son Mohsin Sheikhani and M/s Nasoon (Pvt) Ltd in a contempt of court application.
The court directed the SHO New Town police station Karachi to arrest the alleged contemners and produced them on October 30, 2003.
Petitioner Mrs Anwar Jehan moved the SHC against contemners on violation of court order by them. The petitioner purchased a flat in the West Pride Tower, Clifton. Due to a dispute over the possession of the flat with the contemners, the matter was filed in the court.
The court, she stated, granted status quo and directed the defendants not to sell the flat till the decision on the matter. She submitted that the contemners, in violation of the court order, had sold the flat to other party.
When the matter came up before the court, no one was present for the contemners, despite service of notice. The court issued bailable warrants against them in the sum of Rs10,000, and directed them to appear before the court on Oct 30.
LAND CASE: The government and its departments could not claim a premium over their own negligence in failing to comply with the order (of a court) by asserting that the petitioner could be liable to pay rates prevailing at the time when the order was in fact complied with.
This was observed by a division bench of the SHC on Thursday while hearing a constitutional petition filed by Gul Muhammed Hajano against the delay in the allotment of land for purpose of establishing a school.
Earlier, The bench through an order had directed the Sindh government to allot land to the petitioner, at which the Sindh chief minister had ordered implementation of the court orders by allowing a one-time relaxation on allotment of the government land.
When the petition came up for hearing today, Additional Advocate General Sindh, Abbas Ali, stated that a plot measuring 3,000 square yards had been allotted to the petitioner. The petitioner appearing in person confirmed the fact that the allotment order had been issued, but he was required to pay at the rate of Rs1,250 per square yard, whereas originally the plot had been allotted at the rate of Rs20 per square yard, and as such the order of the court had not been fully complied with.
The AAG, appearing for the Sindh government, opposed the plea taken by the petitioner and, referring to the order passed by the court, contended that the said order did not mention any particular rate, and the chief minister had directed that allotment be made on applicable rates to be fixed by the city government which was exercising all powers of the defunct KDA. The AAG submitted that it was always the privilege of the seller to determine the rate at which a plot was to be sold.
As EDO Law of CDGK, Manzoor Ahmed, was busy before another bench, the bench put off further hearing till October 29.—PPI/APP
