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| August 01, 2007 | Wednesday | Rajab 16, 1428 |
KARACHI: SHC to take up cases of missing people being heard by SC
KARACHI, July 31: The Sindh High Court decided on Tuesday to proceed with the cases of missing people whose disappearance was also being probed by the Supreme Court in exercise of its suo motu jurisdiction.
Federal government standing counsel Mahmood Alam Rizvi produced a list of 11 people whose cases are pending in the Supreme Court at Islamabad. The list included Muneer A. Mengal of the Dubai-based ‘Baloch Voice’ television channel, Salim Baloch of Jamhoori Watan Party, Ali Mohammad Mehar, Asif Baladi, Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, Sher Mohammad Baloch, Mohammad Yusuf and Mufti Mohammad Munir.
Appearing for the petitioners, Advocates Abdul Hafeez Lakho, Noor Naz Agha, Syed Nihal Hashmi, Ghulam Mustafa Lakho, and Chaudhry Iqbal submitted that the detention matters should continue to be heard by the high court as the SC was conducting suo motu proceedings wherein the petitioners were not represented. Most of the petitioners could not pursue their cases at Islamabad and more material was available in the high court.
Advocate Rizvi submitted that affidavits and replies on behalf of the ministries of interior and defence had already been submitted before the high court and the respondents had no objection if the matters proceeded simultaneously or were withdrawn from one of the superior courts.
The number of missing people had already come down as many of them had returned home since.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Mohammad Afzal Soomro decided to proceed with the cases and fixed Aug 16 as the next date of hearing by consent.
The Supreme Court warned a senior lawyer here on Tuesday to change the format of his television show ‘Khwaja Ki Adalat’ to avoid contempt proceedings.
A three-member bench comprising Justices Abdul Hameed Dogar, Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi and Saiyed Saeed Ashhad took Advocate Khwaja Naveed Ahmed, who is also vice-president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, to task as he appeared in a case for leave to appeal at the SC registry here. The bench observed that the programme made a mockery of the law and legal procedure and tarnished the image of the judiciary.
It said the court might initiate suo motu proceedings for contempt against the lawyer if the format of the programme was not changed immediately.
The bench, meanwhile, asked the state to answer a couple of queries to make out a case against the concurrent acquittal of accused Akram Lahori by the trial anti-terrorism court and the appellate Sindh High Court bench in the murder of Syed Shaukat Raza, chairman of the Pakistan State Oil.
It asked the prosecution counsel to place before it a concise statement containing the grounds of acquittal and why they were not tenable.
It also asked the prosecution to explain why a police constable, who was a star witness, was not examined and why it produced ‘chance witnesses’. The petition for leave to appeal would again come up for hearing at the next session of the court
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Mohammad Afzal Soomro issued notices to the provincial government, the city district government and the police in a petition moved by the Cattle Dealers Association against ‘extortion’ of entry fee by police posted at the cattle entry points.
Filed through Advocate Mahmood Qureshi, the petitioner said the fee being recovered from the cattle owners had no legal sanction.
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