KARACHI, July 14: A division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Justice Ataur Rahman and Justice Musheer Alam on Thursday adjourned hearing of three appeals in Danial Pearl kidnapping and murder case till August 16. Two of the appeals have been filed on behalf of the convicts in the case whereas the third one by the state, which is seeking enhancement of the life imprisonment awarded to co-accused to death penalty.
The prime accused in the case, Ahmed Omer Sheikh, had been sentenced to death by the Anti-terrorism Court, Hyderabad division, for kidnapping and killing the US journalist whereas his three accomplices, Fahad Naseem, Syed Salman Saqib and Sheikh Mohammad Adil had been awarded life imprisonment and with fine of Rs500,000 each on July 15, 2002.
Daniel Pearl had been kidnapped from near the Village Restaurant in Karachi in January 2001.
The matter could not be proceeded on Thursday due to the non-appearance of defence counsels Khawaja Naveed Ahmed and Rai Bashir.
Abdul Waheed Katpar appeared for Omer Sheikh. Assistant Advocate General Habib Ahmed and Special Prosecutor Raja Qureshi represented the state.
KBCA PLEA: A division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Zia Pervez on Thursday disposed of a miscellaneous application filed by the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA).
The court asked KBCA to bring the relevant facts, about the difficulties being faced by the Authority in discharging its duties, to the notice of the provincial ombudsman.
The KBCA had moved the court stating that it was facing difficulty in submitting their case before the ombudsman which was investigating the maladministration in KBCA.
Shahid Jameeluddin, appearing for the KBCA, contended that the ombudsman could not take notice of anonymous letter in the course of investigations pursuant to the orders of the SHC.
A number of objective difficulties, which did not enable the KBCA to perform its duties at the desired level, were not being taken notice of, he told the court.
The bench, after perusal of the earlier orders and application by KBCA and issuing direction to the Sindh ombudsman, hoped that the report of inquiry would be submitted before the bench within four months.
Syed Iqbal Hussain Rizvi, Adviser to the Sindh Ombudsman, undertook that the contentions by the KBCA would be duly be reflected in the inquiry report.
Earlier, an SHC bench while deciding a number of petitions that included one pertaining to Trade Tower case, entrusted the inquiry into the alleged massive maladministration in the KBCA affairs to the Sindh Ombudsman.
CASE TRANSFERRED: Justice Khliji Arif Hussain of the Sindh High Court, accepting the charge-sheet against one, Ghulam Qadir Patni, sent his case to the ATC-III for trial.
Patni is accused of killing a police constable, Mohammad Jehangir Minhas, and injuring another policeman, Ansar Mehmood, on March 23 in the limits of Baghdadi police station.
He was arrested following registration of the case at Jackson police station last month. During interrogation, the official SMG belonging to the deceased policeman was recovered along with 17 live bullets on his pointation, the police claimed.
In another case, the judge extended police remand of two accused in a kidnapping for ransom case till July 18.
Amanat Ali alias Chunno and Abdul Shakoor are charged with kidnapping a six- year-old boy, Abu Bakar, for ransom.
Police said Ifitkhar Ahmed lodged complaint that the accused, along with absconding co-accused Karamat Ali and Siddiqa, had kidnapped him from Korangi on May 29 and demanded Rs5 million as ransom.
Later, they released the boy after receiving Rs175,000 at Bahawalpur railway station on June 4.—APP/PPI
