KARACHI, June 20: Justice Amir Hani Muslim of the Sindh High Court who is also administrative judge of Anti-Terrorism Courts in Karachi, on Monday accepting a police report, disposed of a kidnapping for ransom case against Jam Saqi and his wife Akhtar Sultana in terms of police rules. “The accused person shall not be arrested in this FIR without prior permission of this court,” Justice Muslim ordered.

“This is case where admittedly the IO has not been able to collect any material to connect both the accused with the alleged commission of the offence of abduction of the child for ransom,”

“I, therefore, accept the report of the IO with modification that a case is disposed of against both the accused in “cancel class” in terms of Rule 24.7 of Police Rules, 1934, with further direction that bail bonds executed by both the accused shall stand cancelled in terms of section 173 (3) of CrPC,” AJ order said.

Ms Sultana, arrested by the police from Hyderabad, is charged with kidnapping her own nephew for ransom, with her spouse.

Her ex-brother-in-law Shakeel Naich registered a case at Eidgah police station on May 29 accusing Ms Sultana and her spouse of kidnapping his six-year-old son Rafay and demanding a ransom of Rs500,000 for his release.

Investigation officer Shaukat Ali submitted a report under section 173 CrPC seeking disposal of the case under Class A, on ground of lack of evidence.

However, the law officers did not satisfy court under which rule of Police Rules or Act the categories A,B and C have been created.

The AJ observed that the complainant lodged the FIR on the basis of statements of two neighbours Mohammad Abid and Muzamail Hussain while the complainant was not an eyewitness to the alleged incident of abduction of child Rafay.

The statement of the complainant neither disclosed the phone number on which he received telephone calls of two accused for alleged payment of ransom nor the complainant disclosed in his further statement the phone number of the accused, the AJ noted.

Neither the complainant nor the two witnesses disclosed the registration number of the taxi in which accused have allegedly abducted the child. The two eyewitnesses have not disclosed even the description of lady accused.

The complainant himself produced Rafay on June 14 at the police station, admitting that the child was staying with his former wife, Ms Afsar Sultana, mother of the child under some arrangement between him and his former wife and the custody of the child was handed to him, the AJ observed after perusing the report.

Jam Saqi and Ms Sultana, now on bail by the Sindh High Court, denying the allegations of kidnapping termed it a “case of political victimization.”

Doctor brothers’ case: Assistant Advocate General Sindh on Monday sought time in the doctor brothers’ case in the Sindh High Court.

The court is hearing an appeal by Dr Akmal Waheed and his brother Dr Arshad Waheed against their conviction by the trial court on charges of harbouring, providing medical treatment to Junduallah activists.

SHC’s division bench, comprising Justice Mohammad Mujeebullah Siddiqui and Justice Maqbool Baqar, granting the request of AAG Habib Ahmed, adjourned the hearing for June 27.

Anti-Terrorism Court in Karachi sentenced them to an aggregate 18 years jail term with a fine of Rs130,000 each on March 14, having found them guilty of harbouring and providing medical treatment to those Jundullah activists, who are allegedly involved in terrorism cases.

The court, however, found Dr Akmal Waheed and Dr Arshad Waheed innocent.

Challenging the conviction by the ATC, appellants counsel M. Ilyas Khan and Mohammad Farooq submitted in their appeals that the trial court Judge had miserably failed to appreciate facts and law involved in the case and based his judgment on assumptions and presumptions and as such the judgment is liable to be set aside.—PPI