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KARACHI, July 14: The Sindh High Court on Friday directed provincial and federal law officials to ascertain the whereabouts of a former Navy officier, allegedly detained by law-enforcement agencies since July 3, soon after his deportation from Dubai.
Ms Zehra Masooma alleged that her husband Mumtaz Hussain, a former Navy officer, who was working with a information technology firm in Dubai as a senior I.T. administrator, had been arrested by personnel of law-enforcement agencies from Karachi airport.
Her lawyer, Nasir Hussain Jaffery, submitted that the petitioner's husband had earlier been detained by Dubai law-enforcement agencies on June 6. He was later deported along with his family members after remaining in confinement for 22 or 25 days.
The lawyer said that Mumtaz Hussain’s whereabouts remain unknown since July 3, adding that he had neither been shown to have been arrested nor produced in any court.
He alleged that the detainee and his family were deported from Dubai on request of the federal interior and the defence ministries and said that if there was any material proof about the petitioner’s husband’s involvement in any violation of law, he should be prosecuted in Dubai.
Naming federal interior and defence ministries as respondents, the court was requested to order law-enforcement agencies to produce the detainee.
The federal attorney sought more time to file comments on behalf of the federal ministries as the matter was taken up before SHC's division bench comprising Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Mohammad Afzal Soomro.
The court granted more time and directed government’s law officers to ascertain the whereabouts of the petitioner's husband and submit detailed comments on July 19.
RESTRAINED: The Sindh High Court on Friday restrained nazim of Tapa Joneji union council, Sukkur, and an army officer from harassing local people and ordered them not to deprive them of basic facilities like water supply and electricity.
The court passed the interim order on a petition filed by Liaquat Ali, Ghulam Qadir, Ms Hakim Zadi, Naseer Ahmed, Ms Khanzadi and others of Tapa Joneji village in Salehpat Kandhra taluka in Sukkur. The petitioners had accused UC Nazim Mir Shahid and an army officer, Maj Kamran, of haarrassment.
The petitioners had sent an application informing the Sindh High Court’s chief justice that the respondents’ had allegedly deprived them of water and electricity, adding that they wanted to dispossess them of their lands.
The chief justice had converted the application into a constitutional petition, observing that the allegations in the application contained denial of rights to citizens.
The matter was taken up by the SHC's division bench, comprising Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Mohammad Afzal Soomro. During the hearing, the petitioners told the court that the respondents were threatening them of dire consequences after they had come to know about their petition.
The court had issued notices to the respondents on previous hearing but they remained unserved.
The court again issued notices to respondents for July 26, directing them not to harass the petitioners besides restraining them from depriving the petitioners from availing facilities of electricity and water supply in accordance with the law.
Meanwhile, the SHC issued notices to the TPO of Saddar Town and SHO of the Eidgah police station for July 17 on an application filed on behalf of the Birch Club.
Petitioner, Syed Mazhar Hussain Shah, submitted that the respondents were interfering in the club’s business and that the club was closed down by the police on the direction of the TPO of Saddar Town in clear violation of the court’s order dated July 7, 2006. The Nazir’s report was also submitted before the court.
Judgment reserved: An anti-terrorism court in Karachi on Friday reserved judgment in trial against three activists of a banned religious militant organisation in a firing case on an imambargah after hearing closing arguments of the special public prosecutor and the defence counsel.
Abdul Wahab Afghani, Shahnawaz alias Shani and Mohammad Shaukat of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi are accused of killing nine persons and injuring eight others in firing on the Imambargah Al Muntazir Al Mehdi in the Al Falah area on February 22, 2003. The accused have denied the charge.
SPP Ghulam Qadir Rajput pleaded court to award maximum possible punishment to the accused as the prosecution had proved its case.
The prosecution placed 23 witnesses, including seven eyewitnesses, to prove its case.
The defence counsel contended that prosecution case was “highly doubtful” and evidences produced by it against the accused were not reliable.—PPI
