March 06, 2007	Tuesday	Safar 16, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, March 5: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition of former ISI chief Hameed Gul seeking an inquiry into the US-led coalition forces’ air strike on the border village of Shawal in North Waziristan in which a Pakistani soldier was killed.

Led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, a five-member bench of the court observed that the petition had no substance that required the intervention of the court.

On Jan 22, the US-led forces in Afghanistan had fired on a Pakistani border post killing one Frontier Constabulary soldier and wounding two others. Pakistan had lodged a strong protest with coalition authorities over the incident.

During the hearing, the chief justice and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday asked the petitioner’s counsel, Mohammad Ikram Chaudhry, to justify how the petition fell within the ambit of the court and how the jurisdiction of the court could be extended to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas when it was being run through the Federal Crimes Regulation.

“Our hands are tied and we cannot go beyond the authority vested by the law on us,” Justice Ramday observed and cited an example when a petition was filed in the Lahore High Court to seek a direction against then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to test nuclear devices in 1998.

The counsel said the petition was intended to protect the sovereignty of the country and save it from future aggressions.

MMA leader Qazi Hussain Ahmad, former army chief Aslam Beg, former senior bureaucrat Roedad Khan and former naval chief Iftikhar Sarohi were also present in the court room.

In his petition, Hameed Gul had pleaded that it was the constitutional duty of the government to protect the fundamental rights of the citizens of Pakistan, which also included Fata. “The people of Fata are the citizens of Pakistan and it is the responsibility of the government of Pakistan to protect their lives and property,” he said.

The petitioner appealed to the court to order an inquiry into the attack and direct the government to pay compensation to heirs of the killed soldier.

He also called for halting the military operation against the people of bordering tribal areas and ending all agreements with Nato and the US which hampered the interests and rights of the people.

The federal government, ministries of interior, foreign affairs and defence, Chief of Army Staff and the NWFP governor were respondents in the petition.