THE judicial process is being followed, but justice so far is not much in evidence. Rao Anwar, despite his name being credibly linked with some of the worst excesses associated with corrupt law-enforcement personnel, has obtained bail in the second case pertaining to the murder of Naqeebullah Mehsud and three others earlier this year. The notorious cop had been booked by the police for having allegedly planted firearms on the men after killing them in a staged encounter on Jan 13 in Karachi. Contrary to the former SSP Malir’s claims, Naqeebullah, it turned out, was an aspiring model, and none of the four victims had any terrorist links. The outcome in court on Friday was virtually a foregone conclusion. For the same accountability court had a few days ago granted bail to Rao Anwar in the case of the men’s abduction and murder, accepting the defence’s argument that the police official was not present at the scene of the purported shootout.

The saga of the so-called encounter specialist beggars belief, both for the scale of the long-standing allegations that have earned him his sobriquet and for the fact that he has faced not an iota of accountability for his actions. According to the police’s own records, nearly 450 people died in shootouts ordered by Rao Anwar between 2011 and 2018. Not one cop lost his life in the process, yet these ‘encounters’ failed to even prompt an inquiry. After the Supreme Court itself took notice following public protests, it seemed for a while that Naqeebullah’s murder may have been one killing too far. But the bizarre aftermath has made a mockery of the legal system: Rao Anwar took two months to comply with the Supreme Court’s repeated orders for him to surrender, a disappearance evidently so successful that no military or civilian authority was able to smoke him out; his residence in Malir Cantonment was controversially declared a sub-jail; and he was the only one of the policemen accused of Naqeebullah’s murder not brought to court in handcuffs. His insouciance during the court proceedings, moreover, seems to indicate he believes he has an ace up his sleeve that, incredible as it may seem, is no match for the justice system. If the trial is not to be a scathing indictment of the weakness of this country’s institutions, no suspect should be given special treatment or allowed to see himself as being above the law.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2018