KARACHI, Feb 2: A division bench of the Sindh High Court admitted to hearing on Wednesday a number of appeals moved by absentee accountability court convicts subject to adjudication of the preliminary issue
whether an absconder could challenge his conviction without first surrendering to the process of law.
The question arose in a number of appeals filed by Advocates Iqtidar Ali Hashmi, Rasheed A. Razvi, M. Ilyas Khan, Dr Qazi Khalid Ali and Raza Hashmi on behalf of absconding accused who were tried, convicted and sentenced to three years' imprisonment each by the accountability courts under Section 31-A of the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance.
The appellants' counsel argued that once an order of conviction has been passed by a trial court, the only remedy available to a convict is an appeal. NAB Deputy Prosecutor-General Shaukat Zubedi submitted that the convictions were not based on conclusion of a trial.
The appellants were sentenced for evading trial in accordance with the law and were free to approach the trial courts to have their convictions set aside. The appellants were mostly accused of bank loan defaults but chose to stay away from the trial proceedings.
ADJOURNED: The hearing of a writ petition moved by PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto was on Wednesday adjourned to a date in office at the request of her counsel. Advocate Khalid Jawed Khan informed the division bench, comprising Chief Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad and Justice Maqbool Baqar, that senior counsel for the petitioner, Farooq H. Naek, wanted to argue the petition but was away in Islamabad.
The petition challenges the registration of the Sherpao group and the Patriots as the Pakistan People's Party on their merger by the Election Commission of Pakistan.
NOTICES ISSUED: The Sindh High Court division bench that had reserved its order on a petition challenging the detention of 'doctor brothers' has issued notices to counsel for rehearing on Thursday.
Justices Ataur Rahman and Zia Pervez, who constitute the bench, had reserved their order on Jan 25 after hearing arguments advanced by the petitioner's counsel, M. Ilyas Khan, and Advocate-General Anwar Mansoor Khan and viewing a video submitted by the latter in chamber.
The arrest and detention of Dr Akmal Waheed and Dr Arshad Waheed under the preventive custody provisions of the Anti-Terrorist Act was challenged by their wives on Dec 3, 2004.
The petition was amended to challenge the second order for one-month detention issued early in January 2005. The order expired on Feb 1 and a fresh or amended petition would be required to question the third and latest detention order, which is also valid for a month.
PEARLE CASE: A Sindh High Court division bench on Wednesday issued intimation and non-appearance notices to two appellants and their counsel in the US journalist Daniel Pearle kidnap-cum-murder case.
Advocate Rai Bashir of Lahore, who represents appellants Fahad Nasim and Salman Saqib and could not appear on previous dates, was issued the notice when he failed to appear again.
The appellants were also issued notices through the Hyderabad jail authorities to the effect that a counsel would be appointed for them at state expense if their counsel remained absent.
The two appellants were jailed for life, along with co-accused Sheikh Adil by a Hyderabad anti-terrorism court. The main accused, Ahmed Omar Shaikh, was awarded death penalty. The appellate bench, which consisted of Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and M. Mujibullah Siddiqui, adjourned the hearing to Feb 24.
