KARACHI, Feb 16: An appellate bench of the Sindh High Court, comprising Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Azizullah M Memon, admitted two accused of kidnapping to bail, terming a six-year delay in the conclusion of their trial "shocking".

Mir Mohammad and Amanullah were arrested in December 1997 by the police for kidnapping Naseer Ahmed Jagrani, GM of PSO, on Nov 22, 1997. They were charged with the offence, with co-accused Mohammad and Roshan Khan, and the charge-sheet shows that they also demanded ransom for the release of the victim.

When their plea came up for hearing on Wednesday, the counsel prayed for bail on the ground that they had been languishing in jail, waiting for the conclusion of their trial. There is no previous record of their involvement in any criminal activity and thus cannot be dubbed as hardened or desperate.

AAG Sindh, appearing for the state, expressed astonishment and said it was a case of shocking delay. The bench, after perusing the case file, admitted the applicants to bail against two solvent sureties of Rs200,000 each. The bench also ordered production of co-accused, Mohammad and Roshan Khan, before the bench on Feb 22.

The bench also put the counsel for the accused to notice asking why charge was framed under Section 365 (kidnapping) and not under Section 365-A (kidnapping for ransom). -APP