KARACHI: The Sindh government Tuesday assured to federal government to provide full assistance in implementing the Pakistan Protection Ordinance (PPO) and called for rectification of certain legal issues through amendments in the ordinance.

Prosecution being the primary function of provincial governments under the PPO as was pointed out during a high level meeting chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah at the Chief Minister House in Karachi.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Syed Mumtaz Ali, Secretary Finance Sohail Rajput, Secretary Law Mir Muhammad Shaikh, IG Sindh Police Shahid Nadeem Baloch, Advocate General of Sindh Khalid Javaid, IG Prisons Nusrat Manghan, Prosecution General of Sindh and other officers attended the meeting.

Under the anti-terrorism ordinance, promulgated last year, shoot-on-site powers are given to civil armed forces for maintenance of peace in the country while providing them a ‘very short’ time for investigation.

Another significant feature of the ordinance is to provide complete protection of law to all civil and military law-enforcement agencies and their personnel to discharge their mission within the parameters of the constitution that deal with unusual circumstances in which the federation can intervene in provincial affairs. A provincial government can also seek help from the federal government.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Syed Mumtaz Shah briefed the meeting that the federal government wants to establish Special Courts in collaboration with provincial governments for trial of cases under PPO.

Islamabad has requested for providing necessary help and a number of such required courts in the province along with location with proper security to witness, prosecution officials and judges, he added.

Chief Minister Shah agreed to provide full assistance to the centre upon resolution of some legal issues which would be communicated to the concerned authorities through home department.

After threadbare discussion on the prosecution and prisons’ issues, it was noted that certain issues need to be resolved to make the ongoing targeted operation in Karachi successful.

The chief minister took serious note of the criminal activities being carried out by the prisoners through communication devices and directed the additional home secretary to immediately move 51 dangerous and convicted prisoners out of Karachi in other parts of the province. Who then informed the meeting that as many as 500 such under trial prisoners have been identified.

The chief minister directed the IG prisons to ensure installation of mobile jammers in the Central and Landhi jails in Karachi within a month, for which, he said Rs88 million have already been released to the concerned administration.

Shah also constituted a committee under additional home secretary to approach the Sindh High Court (SHC) and evolve such a mechanism under which the challaned cases, pertaining to ongoing targeted operation against outlaws, be decided within a week by the anti-terrorism courts.

He also took serious note of the ‘weak challans’ submitted in the courts specially under the Arms Act.

The IG Sindh Police was also directed to take action against the police officers who challaned their cases with defective arms, or licensed arms in the courts that resulted in release of the accused easily.