01 March 2005	Tuesday	19 Muharram 1426

LAHORE, Feb 28: The Lahore High Court on Monday observed that FIA authorities were making a mockery of law and victimizing citizens by detaining them illegally.

The court gave these remarks while granting bail to a UK-born Pakistani, Shahid Iqbal. The court also ordered FIA to quash the FIR registered against him under the Passport Act.

The court admonished FIA Sub-Inspector Samiullah and said why he should not be sent to jail. The SI replied that the petitioner showed wrong date of birth on old and new passports.

The court observed that it was the duty of FIA authorities to check the date of birth at the time of issuing new passport and he wrongly detained the petitioner for 20 days.

The petitioner's counsel contended that his client had been shuttling between Lahore and London for the last 25 years but now the FIA had illegally arrested him and implicated him in a case.

FOREIGNERS: A division bench has observed that detaining foreigners for a long time tantamount to usurp their basic rights and it is not only a financial burden on the state but these prisoners also leave their affects on other prisoners.

The bench gave these observations on the bail application of a Nigerian woman, Alishah, involved in a narcotics case. The bench also sought a reply from Central Jail, Faisalabad, authorities within seven days.

The petitioner's counsel argued that the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) had arrested his client claiming that she was in possession of one kilogram of hashish in 2002. Later, the case was filed before the ANF court, however, the trial could not be commenced due to non-availability of stenographer.

HUMAN SMUGGLING: The Lahore High Court has observed that depriving innocent citizens of their hard-earned money on the pretext of sending them abroad is a heinous offence and courts could not grant relief to the accused.

The court further observed that the government would make an effective legislation for giving stringent punishments to the accused. The court gave these observations while dismissing the bail application of accused Ashiq Khan.

The petitioner pleaded that the Gujranwala FIA had registered a case against him on the complaint of one Tariq that he deprived him of Rs1 million on the pretext of sending him to the US. But the fact was that the complainant had paid him half the amount and due to non-payment of the remaining amount he could not be sent abroad, he stated. -PPI