KARACHI, May 29: The Sindh High Court ordered on Wednesday the production of a detainee held under the Security of Pakistan Act on June 1.
Petitioner Zehra Masooma submitted through Advocate Haider Imam Rizvi that her husband, Mumtaz Hussain Rizvi, a computer engineer, was deported from Dubai on July 3, 2006 with his family.
He was detained by immigration authorities on arrival at the Karachi airport while she and their five children were allowed to proceed home. When the authorities failed to release him ‘shortly’ as promised, she filed a petition for his recovery and production.
The interior ministry denied arrest or detention initially but the attorney-general informed the court on February 13 that he had been detained under the Security Act. The petitioner moved the court to allow her and other family members to meet the detainee under its inherent powers.
A division bench comprising Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Ali Sain Dino Metlo asked the home department about the place of the detainee’s custody. The home secretary said in his reply that he was not detained in any jail of the province.
The bench asked Additional Advocate-General Sarwar Khan and federal attorney Mahmood Alam Rizvi to arrange his production on June 1 even if he had to be brought from Islamabad. The bench has already asked the interior ministry to apprise it of the grounds of his detention.
PSO privatisation: Advocates Khalid Anwer and Ali Sibtain Fazli advanced arguments on behalf of the Attock Group of Companies in the Pakistan State Oil privatisation case.
They informed Justice Qaiser Iqbal that the group had been excluded from bidding on flimsy grounds. They were replying to arguments by federal government counsel Anwar Mansoor Khan that non-disclosure of information about criminal cases and inquiries faced by Dr Ghaith Pharaon, who heads a key company in the group, was sufficient to disqualify it as a bidder.
The plaintiff’s counsel said they were not obliged to bring on record all the fines paid by Dr Pharaon. Only relevant information was required to be mentioned in the statement of qualifications. The hearing would continue on Wednesday.
