KARACHI: The services of 44 superintendents of police (SPs), allegedly appointed by the Pakistan Peoples Party in 1996 on a “political basis”, might be at stake as the Sindh High Court on Monday directed the provincial government to file a reply on a constitutional petition seeking their termination.

A retired deputy superintendent of police (DSP), Maqsood Ahmed, moved the SHC questioning the legality of the appointments and promotions of the 44 police officers reportedly appointed for three months as a stop-gap arrangement.

A two-judge bench put off the matter to a date to be later pronounced by the court’s office after the provincial government’s law officer requested the court for time to seek instructions from the authorities for filing response to the petition.

Meanwhile, the court directed the law officer to ensure the presence of the officer concerned from the police department on the next hearing and also file a statement on behalf of the 44 SPs named as respondents in the petition.

The 44 SPs cited as respondents included Haseeb Afzal Baig, Mohammad Ali Wassan, Javed Zamir Farooqi, Zulfiqar Ali Talpur, Ghulam Sarwar Bhayo, Ali Sher Jakhrani, Ashiq Ali Buzdar, Jan Mohammad Brahmani, Khalid Mustafa Kori, Farida Bano Leghari, Pir Syed Ahmed Tariq Shah, Abid Hussain Qaimkhani, Jam Zafarullah Dharejo and Aijaz Ali Shah.

Transport fares case

Another bench headed by Justice Munib Akhtar gave more time to the provincial authorities to file their replies to a petition calling for reduction in transport fares.

The petition was filed by Abdul Hakim Quaid against the chief secretary, the provincial secretaries of home and transport departments, the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) and the commissioner for their failure to implement the notification regarding reduced bus fares.

The petitioner, a resident of North Karachi, said he usually travelled by minibus or coach and paid fare that ranged from Rs16 to Rs20.

He said the federal government had significantly slashed the prices of petroleum products from 2015 to 2016 and subsequently reduced transport fares.

The petitioner, represented by Khurram Lakhani, said that on the directives of the provincial transport department, the RTA had issued a notification reducing fares from seven per cent to 12pc, and added that despite that some transporters did not reduce fares and kept charging the same amount as before.

He submitted that 90pc of public transport owners had already converted their vehicles to CNG but they charged fares according to the prices of diesel and petrol.

The petitioner said transporters were charging an additional fare of Rs6 per passenger which put an extra burden on the people living in penury.

He asked the court to issue directives to the authorities to strictly implement the notification and ensure that transporters charge the reduced fares.

Published in Dawn January 24th, 2017