ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will resume on March 25 the hearing of Sindh government’s petition involving Ahmed Omer Saeed Sheikh, the principal accused in the murder of Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench consisting of Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Munib Akhtar will take up the Sindh government’s application against the Dec 24, 2020, order of the Sindh High Court (SHC) declaring as illegal the June 29, 2020, provincial government notification of placing all the accused on the IV Schedule of the Anti Terrorism Act (ATA) of 1997, pursuant to Section 11EE, with an observation that none of the accused were “enemy aliens” as contemplated under Article 10(9) of the Constitution and as such their detention under this provision was found to be illegal and unlawful.

At the last hearing on Feb 2, 2021, the Supreme Court had ordered placing Saeed Sheikh in a residential environment like a government rest house with provision of facilities for a normal life, albeit without access to the outside world through telephone, internet, etc.

The directives were issued after Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan and Advocate General for Sindh Salman Talibuddin had expressed concern that if Saeed Sheikh was released, he would either be taken away or may disappear.

The Supreme Court, while observing that the detenue was entitled to be freed from the custody under the Dec 24, 2020 SHC order, had ordered the authorities concerned to keep him in some residential facility.

The Supreme Court order had also stated that proper security arrangements should be ensured for keeping the detenue safe in the rest house and only his family should be allowed to meet him everyday from 8am till 5pm.

The Sindh government was ordered to provide immediate family of the detenue reasonable transportation and accommodation in Karachi.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2021