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KARACHI, Dec 8: The Sindh High Court ordered jail authorities on Friday to release the five detainees deported from Sri Lanka after undergoing jail terms ranging from seven to 12 years in a drug smuggling case.
Shakeel Ahmed Siddiqui, Abdul Rasheed, Arshad Mehmood, Mohammad Tariq and Shamim Ahmed were convicted by a Sri Lankan court and were deported after they served the jail terms awarded to them. The petitioners said they were deported on July 20, 2006 to Pakistan but were again arrested by the FIA, though there was no case lodged against them in Pakistan. They requested the court to declare the detention illegal and order their release.
The jail authorities contended that the petitioners are serving ‘the remaining sentence imposed by the Sri Lankan court and it was permissible under a ‘transfer of offenders agreement’ signed by the two countries.
A division bench comprising Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Sajjad Ali Shah observed that the petitioners have already undergone the maximum sentence awarded by the Sri Lankan court, though its decision was not binding in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing of an identical petition filed by Imran Ali till December 21 and directed the prison authorities to produce a list of all deportees detained in prisons of the province.
SBP EMPOLYEES: A petition moved by 997 former employees of the State Bank of Pakistan shall proceed on January 11, 2007 even if the SBP counsel fails to appear, a division bench of the Sindh High Court observed on Friday.
The petitioners were relieved in December 1997 under the bank’s ‘golden handshake’ scheme after the announcement of the new, enhanced pay-scales. They were, however, paid their dues under the retirement scheme in accordance with the superseded scales. About 1,454 employees were adversely affected by the decision and 997 of them moved the high court. The bench warned the respondent bank on Friday that the matter would proceed on January 11, 2007 even if counsel failed to appear.
