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KARACHI, Jan 11: A Sindh High Court division bench began on Tuesday hearing of an amended petition moved to challenge the new order issued earlier this month for the confinement of 'doctor brothers' under the preventive detention provisions of the Anti-Terrorist Act.
Representing the petitioner wives of the detainees, who are also doctors, Advocate M. Ilyas Khan reiterated that like the previous detention order, the new order was also mala fide and was aimed at keeping Dr Akmal Waheed and Dr Arshad Waheed confined despite a high court bail order in a terrorism case being tried against them.
He said the first detention order was made under Section 11-EEE of the ATA on Dec 2, 2004, the day the detainees were granted bail. Before their arrest, their names should have been notified under Section 11-EE and they should have been duly intimated. The notification issued under Section 11-EE was also issued on Dec 2.
Besides, the counsel argued, they should first have been released on bail and should have been produced before a judicial magistrate before their re-arrest. Earlier, they were only alleged to have links with Jundullah but according to the impugned order, they were also involved with two other banned terrorist outfits, namely Al Qaeda and Hizbul Tehreer.
The detention violated the constitutional safeguards against arbitrary arrest. Advocate-General Anwar Mansoor Khan submitted that provisions of Article 10 of the Constitution did not apply to any person arrested or detained under any law providing for preventive detention.
Yet the detainees were intimated of the impugned notification through the jail authorities. The government had sufficient proof that they provided shelter and medical and financial assistance to the activists of the banned outfits. The evidence could be shown to judges in chamber, he said.
The bench, which consisted of Justices Ataur Rehman and Zia Pervez, asked the AG to satisfy it first on the legal points involved. The hearing was adjourned to Wednesday.
TAWAKAL APPEALS: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday issued notices in four appeals moved by accountability convict Abdul Qadir Tawakal against his conviction and sentences.
The appellant was convicted of bank fraud and sentenced to a total of 28 years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of about Rs230 million. He was found guilty of fraudulently obtaining loan facilities amounting to Rs230 million from two commercial banks by opening fake letters of credit for export.
The appellate bench, which comprised Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and M. Mujibullah Siddiqui, also disposed of a petition moved by Haji Adam Jukhio to obtain pre-arrest bail.
The petitioner submitted through Advocates Mohammad Ashraff Kazi and Jan Mohammad Khuro that he had been implicated in a fraud case involving 330 acres at Deh Nagan, Tapo Songal, Karachi.
He had nothing to do with the scam and was a bona fide purchaser through powers of attorney executed by the owners of the land. National Accountability Bureau deputy prosecutor-general Shaukat Hussain Zubedi informed the bench that no reference had been filed against the petitioner.
The NAB had also not issued any warrant for his arrest. The petitioner's counsel sought to withdraw the petition with permission to approach the court again if the bureau made a reference. The request was granted.
