KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday granted time till January 20, as a last chance, to the counsel for the complainant, to proceed with his application in the Sindh High Court for transfer of social activist Perween Rahman’s murder trial to any other anti-terrorism court.

Five detained accused have been charged with her murder.

Perween Rahman, head of the Orangi Pilot Project, was gunned down near her office in Orangi Town on March 13, 2013.

Read more:Perween Rahman's murder: the great cover-up

On Wednesday, the ATC-XIII judge, who is conducting the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, was set to hear final arguments from the prosecutor, the defence counsel for the accused and the complainant’s counsel.

But Advocate Salahuddin Panhwar, appearing for the complainant, once again requested the judge to adjourn the proceedings till an order was passed by the high court on an application moved by the complainant seeking transfer of the proceedings to any other ATC.

In the last hearing, the judge had allowed a similar request and fixed the matter for Wednesday for hearing final arguments from the parties as two months’ time given by the SHC to it to conclude the trial was about to end.

Allowing Mr Panhwar’s request, the judge adjourned the matter till Jan 20 to enable him to proceed with his application pending before the SHC till the next date of hearing.

Policemen’s bail pleas dismissed in Naqeeb case

An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday dismissed bail applications of 13 former police officials in the cases pertaining to alleged kidnapping for ransom of aspiring Waziristan model Naqeebullah Mehsud and three others and their killing in “staged” encounter cases.

The then SSP of Malir Rao Anwar, the then DSP Qamar Ahmed Shaikh along with their around 10 detained and 14 absconding subordinates have been booked in the cases of allegedly kidnapping for ransom and then killing four men in a fake shoot-out in Shah Latif Town on Jan 13, 2018.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2019