ISLAMABAD, Jan 7: A citizen, who appeared before the Supreme Court on Monday during a hearing about implementation of its judgment on Karachi law and order, alleged that President Asif Zardari’s foster brother Mohammad Awais Tappi and sister Faryal Talpur were running the affairs of the Sindh government instead of Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah.

“Both are the real chief ministers of Sindh and they run the entire show in the province whereas Qaim Ali Shah is just a rubber stamp who would be removed the day he raises a dissenting voice,” alleged Mahmood Ahmed Naqvi, an intervener who has moved an application before the court.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had taken up implementation of the Oct 6, 2011, overarching judgment on the law and order situation and target killings in Karachi in which it had held that the “unimaginable brutalities in Karachi” were the result of a turf war aimed at keeping socio-political control over the city.

Mr Naqvi who had earlier challenged the dual nationality of Interior Minister Rehman Malik and several other politicians alleged that Awais Tappi, the foster brother of the president, had played havoc in the provincial revenue department and was behind the appointment of Waseem Khawaja as Deputy Superintendent of police for Karachi’s Darakhshan area.

DSP Khawaja was investigating the murder of 20-year-old Shahzeb Khan, who was gunned down in Karachi on the night between Dec 24 and 25. He had been suspended recently because the apex court had taken serious notice of the case, he said.

Earlier, Sindh Advocate General Abdul Fateh Malik informed the court that a number of police officers given out of turn promotions had been sent to their parent departments.

But Mr Naqvi also accused Chief Secretary Raja Mohammad Abbas of disregarding a clear Supreme Court order to reverse out of turn promotions and depoliticise the police department by re-appointing a number of retired officers instead of giving promotions to honest police officers.

He alleged that Riaz and Rizwan Soomro, brothers of the provincial law minister, had not been reverted despite the fact that they had been promoted out of turn, rather an ordinance had been issued to protect their appointments. The ordinance lapsed in December.

Denying that the chronic problem of extortion had ended, he alleged that Sub-Inspector Waseem ‘Beater’, allegedly of the Karachi underworld, patronised gambling dens, illicit drugs, extortion and all kinds of smuggling and regularly provided share to top officers of Sindh police.

“I am saying on oath that Waseem Beater claims to be son of Inspector General Fayyaz Leghari,” he alleged.

Mr Naqvi alleged that Waseem wielded such an influence in police that he could manage appointment of anyone in the department and only because of him Shahbaz Moghal, who earlier was the staff officer of Additional Inspector General Waseem Ahmed, had been promoted to the post of DSP.

He accused Mr Moghal of running a racket of issuing arms licences for Rs25,000 each.

When the chief justice asked the senior police officers, including the IG, about Waseem Beater, AIG Waseem Ahmed admitted that he used to be a police officer but had been removed.

He said Mr Naqvi was continuously trying to pressurise the police department to appoint one Ali Raza as SHO of the Karachi airport police station.

The court asked police not to entertain any request of Mr Naqvi.

At this stage, Investigations DIG Bashir Memon and Hyderabad DIG Sanaullah came forward and acknowledged before the court that Mr Naqvi’s statement was true. Both conceded that Waseem Beater used to run a gambling den in a police station in Hyderabad, he should be arrested and he was an influential man.

The court praised the two officers and observed that prima facie it had been established that police did not want to implement the judgment.

The court regretted that people who had been held with weapons of prohibited bore had been released on bail although the offence was not bailable and expressed dismay that not a single militant wing of any political party in Sindh had been disbanded or unarmed. “We are focusing on Karachi because it is the face of Pakistan and hub of all the economic activity,” the chief justice said.

He said sectarian attacks, target killings and turf wars were going on unabated.

“We painfully note how it would be possible to control the law and order situation when neither the IG nor any senior officer has knowledge of any mafia operating in Karachi,” the court observed.

It ordered the IG and the chief secretary to submit a comprehensive report about implementation of the judgment and spell out reasons for not executing the orders.

The court asked the IG to provide protection to Mr Naqvi who had expressed apprehensions that he would be killed because of his outburst.

The hearing will resume on Jan 22.