May 29, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 23, 1429

HYDERABAD, May 28: Additional Sessions Judge-VI Munawar Sultana Bhatti on Wednesday granted pre-arrest bail for a sum of Rs40,000 each to six accused, including former Sindh minister Dr Irfan Gul Magsi, his father and two union council nazims, in a case of water theft.

The court fixed June 16 for further hearing of the bail application.

Dr. Magsi, his father Allah Bux Magsi and other accused had sought pre-arrest bail in the case lodged at Chambar police station under sections 353, 147, 148, 149, 504, 427, 379, 430 PPC, 61 and 62 of Irrigation Act on the complaint of assistant executive engineer of Chang sub-division of irrigation, Niaz Ali.

The other accused are: Allah Dino, a member of taluka council Chambar, Allah Lakha Dino alias Lakhi Rind and Ali Nawaz Lashari, UC nazims and Tahir Hussain Siddiqui.

The complainant said that the accused dismantled watercourse (TO-155) to steal water at 5pm on Tuesday despite his warnings and he filed the FIR at 9 pm at Chambar police station. They threatened him with dire consequences and then left for Magsi Farm in their vehicles, he said.

Defence counsel Azizullah Khwaja argued that police had misapplied the sections in the FIR given the fact that 430 PPC (water theft) and 61 and 62 of Irrigation Act dealt with same nature of offence but the latter was non-bailable. Section 379 could not be applied because water was neither movable nor immovable property and all the allegations levelled against his clients were of general nature, he added.

He said that Dr. Irfan, who had twice remained Sindh minister and his 85-year-old father had been accused of water theft who did not own a single acre of land on either side of the watercourse.

The court granted them pre-arrest bail and directed them to join investigation by police. The FIR nominated 13 accused and three to four accused were unidentified.

Dr. Irfan Magsi said that it was in fact the 28th FIR against his colleagues. How ridiculous to think that his aged father was caught stealing water from a watercourse which did not irrigate his lands, he remarked.

He said that his rivals wanted to expel them from Tando Allahyar district where his sister was district nazim. He would file defamation cases against them, he said.

He claimed that ever since his father met Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Mian Nawaz Sharif in Raiwind such vindictive actions against his family had increased. He and his colleagues were ready to face victimisation but would not succumb to any pressure, he vowed.

Dr. Rahila Magsi had held a press conference a few weeks ago in which she had referred to vindictive actions by the provincial government against his family at the instigation of local leaders of Pakistan People’s Party.

Recently, she convened a meeting of anti-PPP district nazims of the province at her Karachi residence to work out strategy against such targeted victimisation.