KARACHI , May 23: An anti-terrorism appellate bench of the Sindh High Court commuted the death sentences awarded to three kidnappers, who were arrested by police after an encounter, to life terms.
Phool Chand, Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Shiraz were convicted and awarded death sentences by an anti-terrorism court for kidnapping Saifuddin Minhaj and Nadia Minhaj, son and daughter of Dr Minhaj, on July 27, 2000, from Jheel Park. The complainant father said the convicts and their accomplice, Bobby, demanded Rs1 million as ransom. He agreed to pay them in cash and kind for the release of his children but informed the police at the same time.
The kidnappers asked the complainant father to bring the currency and valuables to a deserted place at Gizri. He paid them $10,000 and Rs74,000 and also handed them over gold ornaments. A police party reached the scene in the meantime and the kidnappers opened fire on it. Bobby was killed when the police returned fire and the three kidnappers were arrested along with the ransom.
By a short order, the appellate bench consisting of Justices Mohammad Afzal Soomro and Rehmat Husain Jaferi commuted the death penalty to life imprisonment.
PSO PRIVATIZATION: Justice Qaiser Iqbal adjourned hearing of a suit instituted by the Attock Group of Companies against its exclusion from the bidding for the Pakistan State Oil.
Advocate Anwar Mansoor Khan made detailed submissions on behalf of the defendant federation. He said Dr Ghaith Pharoan, a key member of the group, had been involved in financial bunglings, which were not mentioned by the plaintiff in its statement of qualifications. The non-disclosure of information rendered the group ineligible for bidding, he argued.
The court pointed out that the international investor, according newspaper clippings produced by the plaintiff’s counsel, Ali Sibtain Fazli, was praised by no less a person than the president of Pakistan at the inauguration of Attock Generation (Pvt) Limited, an independent power project adjacent to Attock Refinery. Dr Pharoan was present at the ceremony.
