18 February 2004	Wednesday	26 Zilhaj 1424

KARACHI, Feb 17: The Sindh High Court asked a provincial government law officer on Tuesday to produce the federal government directive under which condemned prisoner Ahmed Omar Shaikh was shifted from Hyderabad to Rawalpindi.

Shaikh was convicted and sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court in the kidnap-cum-murder case of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearle. Three co-accused were awarded life terms.

All of them have challenged their conviction while the prosecution has also moved an appeal against lesser punishment for the co-accused charged with the same offence and confronted with identical evidence.

Advocate Abdul Waheed Katpar moved an application in the long pending appeals against the shifting of his client from the Hyderabad jail to Rawalpindi.

In response to a court notice, Assistant Advocate-General Habib Ahmed informed the bench that Omar was taken to Rawalpindi following a letter received from the federal authorities.

He did not elaborate, but the convict was apparently required in connection with investigations of terrorism-related incidents.

The counsel called for production of the letter to ascertain under what authority of law the condemned prisoner was removed to Rawalpindi. Accepting the plea, the appellate bench, which consists of Justices Ghulam Nabi Soomro and M. Mujibullah Siddiqui, asked AAG Ahmed to produce the letter by February 26, when the appeals are due to be heard.

It also issued a notice to advocate Rai Bashir of Lahore, counsel for one of the co-accused, who had been absent on a number of successive dates.