HYDERABAD, April 24: Justice Khilji Arif Hussain of the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit bench, on Monday termed illegal an order authorising the Punjab police to take a couple accused in a Hudood Ordinance case to Okara.

The court ordered Sindh additional advocate-general Masood A. Noorani to provide protection to Aruna, her husband Moazzam Ali and latter’s brother Junaid after she sought protection saying her parents were still issuing threats.

The couple appeared before the court following a suo motu notice taken by Justice Mohammad Moosa K. Leghari on Friday after the three were given in the custody of the Okara police by the civil judge and judicial magistrate-III, Malik Mohammad Akhtar.

The judge asked the AAG whether the couple was taken out of high court’s jurisdiction after the passing of Friday’s order or before the order had been issued.

The AAG told the court that the order was passed on Friday and police had taken them to Okara on Thursday.

“It was an illegal order”, observed Justice Khilji Arif Hussain while referring to transmit remand order.

The president of the Hyderabad District Bar Association, Bashir Gujjar, also appeared before the court and said that the dissolution of marriage had already taken place in Okara as per the ex-parte decree passed in November last year filed by Aruna Atta against Moazzam Ali.

“They are no more husband and wife according to that decree”, he said.

He said that he was appearing on behalf of the girl’s father but he did not file his power in the case.

He said that every girl wanted to become Mukhtaran Mai and such incidents were casting a negative impact on society.

“You are at liberty and free to take any legal action as you like”, said the judge when Aruna asked whether she could lodge an FIR against her parents because she was now fed up with the situation.

“Yes we need protection because my parents are still levelling allegations and issuing threats to us. They told me that matter doesn’t end here and there are so many other agencies which can be used against us and we can be implicated in false cases”, she said.

She requested the court to direct the Isra university to allow her to continue her education in the last year of MBBS but the court expressed its inability saying it was beyond its jurisdiction.