KARACHI, May 23: The Sindh Police have placed 153 vehicles for transportation of under-trial prisoners from jails and judicial lock-ups to courts, the Sindh High Court was informed on Wednesday.

A statement submitted by deputy inspector-general (headquarters) Waseem Ahmed to a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Gulzar Ahmed on behalf of the provincial police officer said 18 large vehicles were due to be supplied in June and 15 in July while 120 vans would be delivered in August.

The bench had asked the PPO to explain why the vehicles could not be procured in February as per an assurance to the court. The assurance prompted a court order that the non-production of UTPs in trial courts would render their custody unlawful with effect from March 1. The bench is conducting suo motu proceedings on the prisoners’ plight.

Special home secretary Rashid Alam, who had submitted a comprehensive list of UTPs transferred from isolated cells to barracks in compliance of a court order on the previous date, produced a list of UTPs confined in judicial lock-ups and facing offences punishable with jail terms of up to three years. In all, he said, 600 prisoners in judicial lock-ups were being tried for minor offences carrying a penalty of less than three years of imprisonment.Officiating advocate-general Masood Noorani, additional home secretary Asif Haider, federal attorneys Mahmood Alam Rizvi and Sofia Saeed and Advocate Mohammad Farooq assisted the court. Further proceedings were adjourned to August 16.

POLLUTANT VEHICLES: A division bench consisting of Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Mohammad Athar Saeed asked the transport and environment secretaries and the DIG (traffic) to appear on August 15 and explain how auto-rickshaws and other diesel-operated buses and coaches could be phased out from the city roads to prevent air and noise pollution and ease traffic congestion.