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| March 29, 2006 | Wednesday | Safar 28, 1427 |
Apex court censures Sindh police: Eviction of petrol pump lessee
ISLAMABAD, March 28: The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed disapproval of a police action against a petrol pump lessee in Hyderabad and ordered the Sindh police chief to initiate an inquiry and punish the officials concerned. “Send them all home who brought bad name to the police department,” Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry observed while hearing a complaint of Abdul Kareem, lessee of Al Mustafa Petrol Pump in Jamshoro, Hyderabad.
An inquiry report, which was conducted by three senior officers of the Sindh province, was also presented before the court in which it was conceded that the police had acted in haste but the action had been undone and the lessee’s possession restored.
“What credibility is left of the department,” the chief justice observed, adding that the police would run amok if the courts did not function.
The chief justice said that the case would be dealt sternly as the action was unjustified and police had no authority to overthrow the lessee.
The petrol pump was handed over to an attorney of the lessee, Abdul Kareem, on a 30-year lease in 1993. But he was forcibly evicted at gunpoint on March 4, 2006, following action by police commandos over some dispute.
Subsequently, Abdul Kareem had approached the Supreme Court through a complaint on which the apex court had directed the Inspector General Police, Sindh, to personally inquire into the matter and report back.
On Tuesday, the provincial police was also directed to conduct another inquiry and make the officials responsible pay the lessee Rs115,000 to compensate his losses incurred during the period of police occupation of the petrol pump.
When the court was informed that the origional lessee of the petrol pump was one Qamaruddin and not Abdul Karim, the court observed that any court seized with a dispute over the possession of the pump would not be prejudiced by the instant order.
LANDLORD SUMMONED: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a landlord of Sindh and his alleged collaborator to appear on April 10 to answer charges that they had abducted nine members of a peasant family who have been missing since 1998.
“Prima facie both Abdul Rehman Marri, the feudal lord, and his co-accused Chaudhry Bashir Ahmed seem to be involved in the abduction of nine-member hari family of Munnu Bheel missing since 1998,” a bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and Justice M. Javed Buttar observed while hearing the case after taking suo motu notice of the detention of the family from Mirpurkhas.
“It seems that the situation in Sindh is very bad,” the CJ observed and decided to summon the accused when the court was informed that they were not cooperating in police investigations.
The bench directed the Mirpurkhas sessions judge, who has granted bail to Abdul Rehman and Chaudhry Bashir, to serve notices on the persons who had given sureties.
The sessions judge was directed to issue a memorandum requiring the accused to cooperate in the inquiry and, otherwise, submit a report to the apex court otherwise.
The Sindh High Court’s Hyderabad circuit bench was directed to decide the petition of the Sindh government for the cancellation of Abdul Rehman’s bail within two weeks.
The Supreme Court had taken suo motu notice of the case on an application of Swedish human rights activist Torborg Isakssan.
In 1996, a special task force of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan had rescued, with the help of local administration, Munnu Bheel and his family with 71 other haris engaged in bonded labour from the land of Abdul Rehman.
But on Feb 4, 1998, nine members of Munnu Bheel’s family were again kidnapped allegedly by the landlord when he failed to pay back a loan of Rs190,000. Those abducted were: Munnu Bheel’s father Khero, 70; mother Akho, 60; wife Motan, 40; brother Talal, 25; daughter Momal, 13; son Chaman, 10; eight-year-old son Kanjee; one-year-old daughter Dhanee and another relative, Kirto.
An FIR was lodged against Abdul Rehman but he got an interim bail.
On Tuesday, Sindh Advocate-General Anwar Mansoor Khan and Deputy Inspector-General of Police Saleemullah Khan presented a report before the court containing a statement of approver Nathu Bhel who confessed that the family had been kidnapped by Abdul Rehman.
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