KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Thursday directed the provincial authorities concerned to file a comprehensive report about disposal of narcotics recovered over the last 10 years in the province.

The SHC also asked the authorities that under what mechanism such drugs were spoiled or burnt and directed that certificates issued in this regard must be submitted in court.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon said that judicial propriety demanded to enquire about the disposal of narcotics after the appeals were decided.

It ordered the secretaries of home and excise, taxation & narcotics control departments to file such reports along with photographs and video clips as evidence and also file a report in case of non-availability of such mechanism.

The bench issued these directives during the hearing of an appeal filed against a conviction order of the trial court in a narcotics case.

The appellant, Wazeer Khan, was sentenced to life in prison in June last year by a special court for control of narcotic substances after being found guilty of transporting 24 kilograms of narcotics on a motorcycle in 2021 in a locality of district East.

The counsel for the appellant contended that the appellant was 80-year-old at the time of the incident and he could not drive a motorcycle.

The bench heard arguments of the counsel and asked an additional prosecutor general whether any mechanism was available with the prosecution to keep such narcotics in safe custody and what was the procedure to dispose of such drugs. The APG said the narcotics were set ablaze after formalities.

KBA demands removal of police officers

The Karachi Bar Association has demanded that the IG Sindh remove the SHO of Mehmoodabad police station and suspend the SSP East, SP Clifton, and SHO of Defence for their ‘unlawful’ actions during a lawyers’ protest on Wednesday. The legal fraternity observed a full-day suspension of court proceedings in protest against the incident.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2024