KARACHI, May 30: An additional district and sessions judge, South, on Wednesday directed the station house officer of the City Courts police station to hand over the Karachi Bar Association’s case against the Sindh government and Muttahida Qaumi Movement leaders to the station investigation officer.

In his much-awaited order, Judge Mohammad Azeem ruled that under clause 4 of Article 18 of the Police Order 2002 a station house officer was not competent to dispose of an FIR under Section 157-B of CrPC. He also made it clear that only the investigation wing was authorised to do so. He added that the SHO also did not comply with the requirements envisaged under Sections 158 and 159 of CrPC.

The order was issued on an application filed by KBA General-Secretary Naeem Qureshi against the SHO, who had registered the FIR under an order of the same court on May 19. The case pertained to firing on a lawyers’ procession on May 12.

Although the SHO had registered the case under sections 147, 148, 149, 324, 427, 365/511 and 506 (b) of the Pakistan Penal Code, he mentioned in the FIR that he did not feel appropriate to investigate the case under Section 157 (b) of CrPC as there was no need for investigation.

The complainant has stated that the lawyers took out a rally from the city courts and were on their way to the airport to receive Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry when participants of the rally were attacked with firearms. It mentioned that MQM workers with party flags on their vehicles also started shooting at the lawyers causing injuries to many of the rally participants.