KARACHI, May 28: A seven-member bench of the Sindh High Court asked top administration and police officers on Monday to submit their comments on the May 12 siege of the court premises by June 1 and adjourned further proceedings till that date.
Acting Advocate-General Masood Noorani, Additional Advocate-General Sarwar Khan and Assistant Advocate-General Agha Zafir Ali sought a longer adjournment for detailed comments on behalf of Chief Secretary Shakeel Durrani, Home Secretary Ghulam Mohammad Muhtaram Naqvi, Provincial Police Officer Niaz A. Siddiqui, Capital City Police Officer Azhar A. Farooqui
and Saddar Town Police Officer Naveed Tahir but Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, who heads the bench, said summer vacation was due to commence soon and some of the members might not be available.
There was no notice for personal appearance of the officers, he observed, and dispensed with their presence on future dates unless specifically asked.
Federal government standing counsel Mahmood Alam Rizvi represented the attorney-general and the director-general of the Pakistan Rangers and was asked to file comments on the latter’s behalf. Advocates Khalid Anwer and Qazi Faez Isa were asked to assist the bench as amici curiae. The bench, which consists of Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Mushir Alam, Azizullah M. Memon, Khilji Arif Hussain, Maqbool Baqar and Ali Sain Dino Metlo, is considering a petition based on the SHC registrar’s report in suo motu exercise of the court’s powers.
The bench assembled at 11.30am in the jampacked courtroom of Justice Osmany, the senior puisne judge. The respondent officers were escorted by Sindh High Court Bar Association Secretary Munirur Rehman and other lawyers as advised by Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed on a complaint that officers were insulted and greeted with hostile slogans and glances as they appeared in response to a court notice in a contempt case filed by lawyers. The case is fixed before a division bench comprising Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Mohammad Athar Saeed on June 1. The officers should be extended due courtesy and respect, the seven-member bench said in its order of Monday.
The aggrieved lawyers were asked to submit their affidavits through the presidents of the Sindh High Court, Karachi and Malir bar associations. Notices were ordered to be issued to the three presidents and the Sindh Bar Council vice-chairman.
“We all know what happened on May 12 but the matter has to proceed in accordance with the law and rules of procedure,” remarked Justice Osmany. “We want to go into the depth of the matter,” he said.
KARACHI, May 28: A seven-member bench of the Sindh High Court asked top administration and police officers on Monday to submit their comments on the May 12 siege of the court premises by June 1 and adjourned further proceedings till that date.
