KARACHI, May 22: The Sindh High Court allowed a prosecution appeal and directed the police on Monday to submit a charge-sheet in the murder case of Ehteshamuddin Haider under the Anti-Terrorist Act for trial of the accused in accordance with law.

Mr Haider, an executive of the Fatimid Foundation and brother of Lt-Gen Moinuddin Haider (retd), was shot dead on Dec 21, 2001. He was going to his house when his chauffeur-driven car was ambushed by unknown terrorists at the gate of his bungalow on D’ Silva Road, Soldier Bazaar, at 11pm. Mr Haider died on the spot and his body was taken to hospital.

The Soldier Bazaar police registered a case and arrested Ataullah alias Qasim and Mohammad Aslam alias Sharif of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi under the relevant provisions of the ATA and the Pakistan Penal Code. However, a challan or charge-sheet submitted in July 2002 was not accepted by the administrative judge for anti-terrorism courts as, according to him, the offence did not fall within the purview of the ATA.

An appeal against the administrative judge’s order was moved by the prosecution. A provincial government law officer argued that the federal and provincial governments had launched a campaign against terrorists and religious organizations involved in sectarian killings and Lt Gen Moinuddin Haider was spearheading it in his capacity as federal interior minister. The accused terrorists belonging to Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, since banned, wanted to spread terror and send across a message that even the brother of the federal interior minister was not safe. The act was designed to frighten public and prevent its members from leading a normal life. The case was obviously triable under the ATA by an anti-terrorism court, he asserted. The sister of the deceased was similarly targeted earlier.

A division bench, comprising Justices Zia Pervez and Rahmat Hussain Jafferi, which had reserved its order after hearing the arguments, observed in its order on Monday that ‘mens rea’ was an essential ingredient of any criminal offence, particularly of acts of terrorism and it need not be specifically mentioned. The deceased was a brother of the interior minister, who was leading a campaign against sectarian terrorism, the accused had no personal enmity with the deceased, and the accused were members of a terrorist outfit. The offence was evidently aimed at instilling fear and insecurity among the people. The case fell within the remit of Section 6 of the ATA and should proceed in an anti-terrorism court in accordance with the law. The bench directed the police to submit a challan under the ATA.