ISLAMABAD: A controversy seems to be brewing at the Federal Shariat Court (FSC), where steps are being taken to investigate the circumstances surrounding a mysterious fire that broke out at the court’s Karachi registry. Some consider the timing of the fire highly suspicious as it comes shortly before an audit of the court’s accounts.

According to an FSC protocol officer, Justice Sheikh Najamul Hassan of the FSC has been tasked with investigating the fire by FSC Chief Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza Khan. The judge proceeded to Karachi on Wednesday night and is expected to report back to the CJ soon.

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Important judicial record and other documents are said to have been destroyed in the blaze which broke out on Oct 24 in the FSC registry. Located on the premises of the Sindh High Court (SHC) building, the registry is on the left-hand-side of the public entrance.

Records gutted ahead of pending audit of court’s accounts

This is the first time a blaze like this has occurred at any of the four FSC registries in the country since the court was founded under a presidential order in 1980.

In December, the auditor general of Pakistan is expected to begin scrutinising the accounts of the FSC, ostensibly at the request of the current CJ.

Sources in the FSC told Dawn that upon assuming charge in June this year, Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza had ordered the audit which had been pending for some years.

Earlier, the FSC administration had conducted an internal audit and the report was submitted to the CJ.

Sources say that apart from other checks, the auditors will examine records relating to Rs26 million which the FSC administration was allocated for the ‘renovation’ of a rest-house building in Sindh.

The Sindh government, at the request of the FSC, had allotted an old building on Shireen Jinnah Road and had released Rs26m for its upkeep. The building was to be converted into the FSC guesthouse in Karachi.

In 2011, during the tenure of former FSC chief justice Agha Rafiq Ahmed Khan, the FSC administration sent request to the Punjab and Sindh governments to allocate buildings and funds for the establishment of rest-houses to accommodate judges visiting the Lahore and Karachi registries of the FSC.

Sources say that despite the release of funds, the building in question is still in dilapidated condition and items such as furniture and generators purchased for the guest-house have been removed to the residences of “certain authorities”.

There are allegations that the funds released for renovation had been diverted elsewhere. The lower portion of the building, however, is being used by the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC). It may be mentioned that after his contract ended former FSC chief justice Agha Rafiq joined the SPSC as its chairman.

Sources in the FSC allege that the records relating to the release of funds were kept at the FSC Karachi registry, where the fire broke out.

An FSC official told Dawn that the court’s administration had sent a request to the DG federal audit to conduct an external audit of the FSC’s accounts. He said it had been ruled out that the fire at the Karachi registry had been caused by a short circuit.

He also said that staff at the registry had submitted a list of furniture, equipment, judicial record and other documents destroyed in the fire.

FSC Deputy Registrar Javed Iqbal told Dawn that all FSC records were burnt in the fire, but added that records related to the Rs26m grant for the guest-house could be obtained from the relevant department of the Sindh government. 

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2014