KARACHI, Aug 15: The Sindh High Court admitted on Wednesday PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari’s appeal and suspended the impugned order of a sessions court to file a case lodged by him against former accountability chief Saifur Rehman and inspector-general of Sindh police Rana Maqbool.
The appellant submitted through Advocate Farooq H. Naek that a conspiracy to kill him in custody was hatched early in 1999 by Saifur Rehman, his brother Mujibur Rehman, ex-IG Rana Maqbool, former deputy inspector-general Farooq Amin Qureshi and then Central Prison superintendent Najaf Mirza as part of the political vendetta unleashed by the Nawaz Sharif regime.
He was subjected to torture at the CIA Centre, Karachi, and a deep cut was made in his tongue, which made him bleed profusely. He survived the assault and reported it to police, who refused to register a criminal case against the culprits.
He approached the sessions judge (South), who ordered the registration of a case on his complaint. An interim charge-sheet in the case was submitted by the police before a judicial magistrate, who referred it to the sessions judge as the offence was triable by a sessions court.
The sessions judge assigned the case to an additional sessions judge, who, acting on a police report, disposed it of in Sept 2006 due to lack of evidence as prayed by the investigation officer.
Mr Zardari challenged the disposal order as relegation of a case to ‘C’ class for lack of evidence was a power vested in the judicial magistrate under Section 173 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Rule 24 of the Police Rules.
After hearing Advocate Naek and a law officer, Justice Mohammad Moosa K. Leghari admitted the appeal to regular hearing and suspended the impugned order.
Damages suit
A suit instituted by a British businessman of Pakistani descent against the Habib Bank Limited for damages amounting to Rs105 million was adjourned by Justice Munib Ahmed Khan to Aug 28 for arguments.
Plaintiff Haider Jafar submitted through Advocate Talib H. Rizvi that he, along with Sen Asif Ali Zardari and former HBL president Syed Safdar Zaidi, was implicated in bogus criminal case for taking and defaulting on an HBL loan. All three accused were acquitted by the Karachi special court for offences in banks.
The plaintiff said he was running his business in Britain and he had to travel to Pakistan to pursue the case against him. He enjoyed good reputation and credit in the business circle and the case caused him a lot of anguish. He said the complainant owed him damages amounting to Rs105 million for the pecuniary loss and mental torture caused by the proceedings.
Judicial security
A division bench consisting of Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Faisal Arab asked the Sindh High Court Bar Association, the Sindh Bar Council and the Karachi Bar Association to submit a joint plan on the ‘judicial security system’ proposed by petitioner Ataullah Shah of Rah-i-Rast Trust.
The bench said it was disappointed to note that no comments had been filed by the provincial government or the bar associations.
Assistant advocate-general Qasim Mirjat said the authorities concerned had been conveyed the court directions and a response was awaited. SBC’s Mohammad Aqil said he would ask the council vice-chairman to ensure compliance with the court order. The notices were repeated for Aug 30 with the amended direction that the three bar organisations should submit a joint plan.
