KARACHI, Feb 8: Former Balochistan chief minister Sardar Akhtar Mengal should not be subjected to surveillance by the Military Intelligence or any other agency and he should be allowed all facilities available to a ‘B’ class prisoner under the Prisons Rules, the Sindh High Court ordered on Thursday.
No agency should have a role in the former CM’s judicial custody and the jail superintendent should arrange his check-up by a cardiologist and a neurologist in hospital or jail, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Faisal Arab observed while disposing of two applications moved by Advocate Azizullah Shaikh on behalf of Mr Mengal. The prisoner should be allowed food and bedding, as per the prison rules, the bench said.
About in-camera trial in jail, the bench observed that the government had the authority to arrange a trial in jail for security considerations. Similarly, the court order said, public and media entry could be restricted but reasons must be given for placing such restrictions.
It asked the judge of the anti-terrorism court to state reasons for barring the entry of Human Rights Commission Secretary Iqbal Haider and the ex-CM’s nephews.
Citing SHC judgments in the cases of Mairaj Mohammad Khan and Asif Ali Zardari, Advocate Azizullah Shaikh had argued that open public trials were the surest guarantee of civil liberties.
