KARACHI, Feb 14: A division bench of Sindh High Court, comprising Justice Zawwar Hussain Jaffery and Justice Maqbool Baqar, on Tuesday issued contempt notice to SSP Azizur-Rahman alias Churri in an alleged land-grabbing case.
The notice was issued as he failed to appear despite an order of the court for appearance.
The bench was seized with the hearing of a constitutional petition filed by Khudaram Khan.
The petitioner maintains that he owns a plot in Sindh Government Cooperative Housing Society and adjacent plot was owned by respondent SSP Aziz-ur-Rahman Churri.
The bench, after hearing the counsel Raza Mohammad Raza advocate on a previous hearing, ordered personal attendance of the respondent but he was called absent after which notice for contempt of court was issued.
Meanwhile, Ms Fahmida Qadeer, Judge, Federal Special Court, Central-I, on Tuesday admitted 50 accused to bail against a solvent surety of Rs 50,000 each.
The accused were allegedly travelling to Iran by a fishing boat.
Raees Mohammad Khan, appearing for the applicants, submitted that the fishing boat was licensed and left the port with all necessary documents. The applicants were all residents of Jiwani and Gawadar and are bona fide fishermen, Raees Mohammad Khan contended.
The court, after hearing the state counsel, admitted 50 applicants to bail against a surety of Rs 50,000 while Noor Mohammad alleged to be agent/human trafficker was denied bail.
POLL PETITION: A division bench of Sindh High Court, comprising Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Zia Pervez, on Tuesday adjourned a constitutional petition filed by Mir Ghalib Khan Domki till Feb 21 with the orders that the petition would be heard and decided on the said date.
The petitioner challenged an impugned order of the Election Commission which declared his election from NA-210, Sukkur-III as null and void after rigging was alleged.
When the petition came up for hearing, Mir Imran Khan Bijarani of PPPP appeared before the bench and said that he was not aware of the proceedings before this court and came to know of it only previous night. He sought time to engage a counsel.
The bench inquired from Barrister Raza Hashmi, counsel for petitioner, about the date of by-elections.
He informed the bench that re-polling was ordered to be held on Feb 25. He also requested the court to decide the petition before the scheduled date of polling.
The bench, allowing the request of the main respondent Mir Imran Khan Bijarani, asked him to engage a counsel and come prepared for arguments so that the petition be heard and decided on the same day.
The same bench also adjourned the hearing of a petition filed by 50 police officers, including DSP Nazeer who challenged the out-of-turn promotions to their juniors.
When the matter came up for hearing, a number of prominent city lawyers, including Rasheed A Razvi, Abdul Hafeez Lakho, Raza Hashmi, Z K Jatoi, Gohar Iqbal and others submitted their vakalatnamas on behalf of different respondents.
They sought time to go through the contents of the petition.
The bench allowed the request and put off hearing till March 15.
Meanwhile, the court extended the interim order under which the authority was restrained from allowing promotions other than covered under law.
plea dismissed: An appellate bench of Sindh High Court, comprising Justice Mohammad Afzal Soomro and Justice Rahmat Hussain Jafferi, on Tuesday dismissed a plea for quashment of a misappropriation case against Begum Salma Ahmed, former MNA and President of Pakistan Association of Women Entrepreneurs.
The appellant was facing trial before an Accountability Court at Karachi on charge of misappropriating Rs11.5 million issued under Special development Programmes allocated to MNAs and other elected representatives.
Farooq H. Naek, appearing for the appellant, submitted that the NAB ordinance does not cover the alleged crime and thus proceedings against her before ACC be quashed.
Deputy Prosecutor-General NAB Shafaat Nabi Sherwani, appearing before the court, submitted that she was the holder of the public office when money was disbursed in her name for the proposed project of Fashion Design Technology Centre under the MNA scheme.
The bench, after hearing the sides, dismissed the plea of quashment. Earlier, Accountability Court (ACC-IV) also dismissed her application for acquittal moved under Section 265-K.
