KARACHI: Court extends bail to MPAs in Eshwar Lal case
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Aug 15: The district and sessions judge, South, Agha Rafique Ahmed Khan, extended on Tuesday the interim bail granted to six members of the Sindh Assembly in the attempted murder case registered by ruling PML MPA Eshwar Lal.
Five of the accused -- -- Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, leader of opposition in the provincial assembly, and three other PPP MPAs, Haji Munawar Ali Abbasi, Mohammad Nawaz Chandio, Mohammad Saleem Hingoro and Murad Ali Shah, son of former Sindh Chief Minister Syed Abdullah Shah -- belong to the Pakistan People’s Party, while the sixth MPA, Murad Ali Shah, belongs to the ruling PML.
The MPAs were booked under Sections 324, 506-B, 109 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code for attempted murder on the complaint of the ruling party MPA by the Preedy police on June 26.
The police had cited Murad Ali Shah, resident of Nausherho Feroz, as fifth accused in the case. The MPA from Naushero Feroz belonged to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (Q) and the court had also issued his non-bailable warrants for the arrest. The ruling party MPA, however, obtained pre-arrest bail from the court on the grounds that he was the namesake of the actual suspect in the case.
Meanwhile, the investigation officer of the case, Sub-inspector Munir Ahmed, moved an application before the court praying to it to issue non-bailable warrants for the arrest of PPP MPA Murad Ali Shah.
The IO submitted that MPA Murad Ali Shah was named in the interim challan without his parentage. He said during the investigation he came to know the name of his father, which was Abdullah Shah, and that the accused MPA belonged to the PPP and was resident of Sehwan, Dadu. He also stated that a wrong address of the accused was inadvertently mentioned in the interim chargesheet.
The IO stated that Syed Murad Ali Shah son of Syed Noor Ahmed Shah, who obtained bail before arrest in the case, was not an accused in the case.
The court fixed Aug 26 for hearing arguments and issued notice to defence counsel for PPP MPAs, Shahadat Awan, district attorney Shahabuddin Memon and complainant’s counsel.
Meanwhile, the ruling party MPA moved an application for his acquittal under Section 265-K of the Criminal Procedure Code.
He submitted that his implication in the case was not only a big question mark on the face of prosecution, but it also called upon the ongoing investigation for the departmental and the judicial inquiry against the investigation officer.
The ruling party MPA stated that it was now proved that he was implicated in the case either due to severe kind of negligence and fault in the course of investigation, or lack of coordination and information between investigation officer and Sindh Assembly authorities, who provided wrong information to the investigation officer about the address of the accused.
The court issued notices to the counsel for PPP MPAs, district attorney and the complainant’s attorney for forwarding their arguments on the acquittal application of the ruling party MPA on Aug 26.
Mr Lal alleged that he had terms with PPP MPA Ms Shazia Marri and he also exchanged gifts and greetings with her during his festivals. He said he was told about the illness of Ms Marri and on June 21 he inquired about her well being through a note on a piece of paper during the assembly session.
The ruling party MPA alleged that the female MPA read the note and later gave it to the leader of opposition, who along with Ms Marri and other PPP MPAs went out of the assembly hall. “After a short while, Syed Murad Ali Shah, Muneer Abbasi, Mohammad Nawaz Chandio, Saleem Hingoro and other MPAs returned along with eight to 10 men and came to me telling me that they would not spare me alive”, he alleged.
Mr Lal further alleged that the PPP MPAs then started beating him with fists and kicks and they tried to kill him. He said in the meantime Mahi Khan Wasan, Abdur Razaque Dahmoo and other MPAs rescued him.
He reported to the police that he was scared after the incident and he remained confined to his house for few days.
