September 09, 2008	Tuesday	Ramazan 8, 1429

KARACHI, Sept 8: The Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court, Anwar Zaheer Jamali, on Monday confirmed the pre-arrest bail of MPA Abid Hussain Jatoi and another accused nominated in a karo-kari case.

Saira Jatoi and her husband Ismail Soomro, who married on their free will, moved the SHC to seek protection from the jirga that declared them karo-kari.

Abid Jatoi, MPA of the National People’s Party, and co-accused Junaid Ahmed Soomro had earlier obtained interim pre-arrest bail in the case.

The chief justice confirmed their bail in the sum of Rs500,000 surety furnished to the satisfaction of the court nazir.

Agricultural land

Justice Muneeb Ahmed Khan of the Sindh High Court on Monday granted time to the Additional Advocate-General of Sindh to explain the factual situation regarding possession of 30 acres of disputed agricultural land of Rozi Goth in Surjani Town.

Plaintiffs Badal and Adam submitted that in order to alleviate poverty an assistant commissioner of the settlement department in defunct Karachi East district had allotted 30 acres for agricultural purposes to Muhammad Badal, Adam and Rozi Khan in 1977 in UC 5, Deh Nagan, Surjani Town.

Advocate Sohail Hameed said that the plaintiffs cultivated land and set up a garden where fruit and crops were sowed. In 2007, one Mansoor Ahmed Awan along with others bulldozed their garden, damaging standing crops, and took illegal possession of it. Despite requests, police did not help them.

The judge, in view of the nazir’s report and the plaintiffs’ claim, issued a notice to a member of the land revenue department for Sept 29. The AAG was also granted time for intimating the fresh factual position by calling the mukhtiarkar concerned.

Society polls

The Sindh High Court on Monday directed the administrator to draw up within 45 days a list of eligible voters for the election of the managing committee members of Rizvia Cooperative Housing Society.

Ten members of the managing committee moved the SHC against the deputy district officer cooperative-V, Karachi, who restrained the RCHS administration from holding an election for 2006, citing an SHC order that upheld a government notification restricting those members who were elected for two terms from taking part in the election. This order was however suspended by the Supreme Court.

Sindh Additional Advocate-General Abdul Fatah Malik stated on the last hearing that the court had appointed Advocate Ali Gohar Soomro as administrator to complete a list of eligible candidates for election within 45 days.

The SHC division bench, comprising Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Bin Yamin, directed the administrator to comply with the earlier court order and compile the list of voters within 45 days from the date of issuance of the order and issued a notice to the respondents for Oct 15.—PPI

Defamation complaint

Justice Rana Mohammad Shamim of the Sindh High Court has set aside a sessions court order taking cognizance of former Karachi Building Control Authority chief executive Brig (retired) AS Nasir’s criminal defamation complaint against former anti-corruption director Asad Ashraf Malik, adds Our Staff Reporter.

Mr Nasir filed a complaint with district and sessions judge Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan (since elevated and appointed as federal law secretary) under the Defamation Act, 2004, and Sections 499 and 500 of the Pakistan Penal Code alleging that he had been defamed by the director of the anti-corruption establishment (since appointed provincial ombudsman).

While reviewing the performance of his establishment during 2006, the director made defamatory statements against him in respect of an inquiry against him leading to the registration of an FIR. He also sued the newspapers that carried the report.

The sessions judge took cognizance of the complaint and issued summons to the director and the newspapers charged. The provincial government challenged the order in the high court through the advocate-general, who appeared as state counsel. It requested the court to quash the order as the sessions judge had no authority to pass it.

As the matter came up for hearing on Monday, AG Yusuf Leghari and Assistant AG Adnan Karim Memon argued that only a magistrate was empowered to take cognizance and issue summons under Section 193 of the criminal procedure code. He would then send up the case for trial by the sessions judge under the Defamation Act. The anti-corruption rules allowed the director to issue periodic reports about the working of his department and impugned report was made in good faith in pursuance of public duty.

Advocate Mukhtar Ahmad, counsel for the former KBCA chief, submitted that the sessions court alone could take cognizance of a defamation complaint under the Act of 2004. He said the state counsel could not appear for the anti-corruption director as he was sued in his personal capacity. Allowing the criminal miscellaneous applications, Justice Shamim said the case registered against the former KBCA chief was still being tried and a charge had been framed against him. He could have filed a defamation complaint if he had been acquitted. Besides, it was for a magistrate and not the sessions judge to take cognizance of the complaint.