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KARACHI, Jan 9: A Sindh High Court division bench directed the home department on Friday to file its comments on a petition moved against the detention of former revenue minister Altaf Hussain Unnar under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance after the court order for his release on bail.
The detainee’s son, Adil Unnar, said the detention was mala fide as it was aimed at frustrating the grant of bail. He had been in custody for long without any substantial progress in the anti-terrorism court proceedings.
The ex-minister is facing trial for allegedly firing at PPP MNA Dr Azra Pechoho’s car during a by-election at Jamshoro in 2006. Advocate Waseeq Ahmed Kehar, the petitioner’s counsel, said the detainee was suffering from serious kidney trouble and his continued imprisonment would further aggravate his ailment.
Assistant Advocate-General Adnan Karim Memon questioned the maintainability of the petition. He submitted that the detention was not penal but preventive and was meant to restrain him from threatening public peace. He placed before the court the medical record of the detainee, saying that he was being provided all treatment facilities as ordered by it. The detainee, the law officer said, refused a visit to the Liaquat University hospital at Jamshoro, where he was being treated.
The bench, which consisted of Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Justice Gulzar Ahmed, asked the AAG to submit para-wise comments on behalf of the respondent home department by Jan 15.
Case quashed
Justice Mahmood Alam Rizvi, meanwhile, quashed proceedings against a Civil Aviation Authority official in an anti-narcotics case. CAA assistant facilitation officer Salim Khan was charged by the Anti-Narcotics Force with trying to clear a passenger, Ayaz Ahmed, carrying 9.5 kilograms of heroin at the airport. He was about to board a flight for Amsterdam when he and his three accomplices were held. An envelope containing Rs107,500 allegedly given by Ayaz for payment to the CAA official was recovered.
