KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Tuesday issued a notice to the prosecution for June 27 on a plea filed by social worker Sarim Burney — in his sixth attempt to obtain post-arrest bail — in a case pertaining to alleged child trafficking.

Last year, Mr Burney was arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) when he arrived at Karachi airport from abroad for his alleged involvement in “child trafficking by way of illegal adoption” on the complaint of US authorities.

In his sixth attempt to seek relief from the court, after his previous bail plea was dismissed by the Sindh High Court, Mr Burney re-approached though his counsel the judicial magistrate (East) on fresh grounds.

On his application, the court issued notice to the prosecution, including the investigating officer and directed them to appear before the court on June 27 along with police file.

In the bail plea, the defence counsel submitted that four of Mr Burney’s earlier post-arrest applications had been dismissed by the judicial magistrate and the sessions court, while the SHC had also upheld the sessions court’s decision.

The counsel argued that the statutory ground of delay, as provided under Section 497(1) of the CrPC, did not exist at the time the previous bail applications were decided. Therefore, the present plea should be treated as the first bail application filed on statutory grounds.

The application contended that Mr Burney has been behind bars since his arrest in June 2024, and to date, the charge against him is yet to be framed.

It claimed that despite the passage of a year, there has been no substantial progress in the trial.

The counsel argued that the applicant cannot be left at the mercy of the prosecution to languish in jail for an indefinite period.

In the final investigating report, the FIA charged Mr Burney and others of committing offences under Sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 201 (disappearance of evidence), and 109 (abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code, along with Sections 3 (trafficking in persons), 4 (aggravating circumstances), and 5 (abetment and criminal conspiracy) of the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2018.

It alleged that the prime suspect — Mr Burney — and his accomplices “knowingly and willfully provided false information, made false declarations and concealed facts” before a family court in Karachi, claiming that the three baby girls were found “abandoned” outside the Sarim Burney Welfare Trust and that they had “made every effort to locate their parents,” but no one came forward.

However, in communications with the FIA and the US Embassy regarding immigrant visas for the baby girls, the trust allegedly stated that the children were brought to the trust by their biological parents.

It claimed that the trust had handed over the children to US nationals in exchange for a total of $6,000, without obtaining the consent or knowledge of their biological parents.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2025