KARACHI, Dec 2: Justice Zia Pervez of the Sindh High Court cancelled on Friday morning the pre-arrest bail granted to six accused in as many cases, including a murder attempt case, and allowed the police to take them into custody.

Malik Allauddin and his sons were required by the Thana Bhola Khan police in six cases. One FIR alleged that they fired shots in an attempt to kill Dr Tek Chand, (former) district health officer, Dadu, in August 2004.

The accused, Malik Alauddin, Malik Ghulam Akbar, Malik Ghulam Babar, Malik Humayun and Malik Shiraz and another, said they had been falsely implicated in criminal cases by (former) Dadu district nazim Malik Asad Sikandar out of political vendetta. They approached the high court for pre-arrest bail, which was granted on August 31, 2004.

After obtaining interim bail, Justice Pervez noted in his cancellation order, the accused repeatedly sought adjournments for one reason or another despite protests by the complainants’ counsel. The chief justice finally fixed hearing on Nov 29 but the case had to be adjourned on that date too.

The hearing was lastly fixed for 8.30am on Friday but Advocates Raza Hashmi and Rana Ikramullah requested adjournment on behalf of their respective seniors. The request was vehemently opposed by Advocate Azizullah K. Shaikh and the bench gave the lawyers five minutes to contact senior counsel Iqtidar Ali Hashmi.

The case was taken up at 9am and the judge passed the bail cancellation order. As the police were taking the accused into custody, Advocate I.A. Hashmi appeared and requested the court to hear him.

The lawyer said he was stuck in a traffic jam outside the PIDC House while on his way from his residence to the court premises. He also moved an application for hearing under inherent powers of the court but the judge declined to recall his order and reopen the case.