KARACHI, March 21: Justice Ataur Rahman of the Sindh High Court asked a plaintiff on Monday to implead an army colonel alleged by him to be serving with the National Accountability Bureau and restrained his opponents from making recovery of the disputed amount from him till March 24.

Rice dealer Quaid Shah claimed in his plaint that he issued post-dated cheques amounting to over Rs10 million to commission agent Amar Lal, the defendant, for the purchase of ‘Sindh Super’ quality rice. The consignment was delivered but found defective

The commission agent, according to the plaintiff, agreed that the rice supplied did not conform to the agreed specifications. The consignment was returned but the defendant agent asked him to honour his cheques. To put pressure for encashment of the cheques on him, the defendant visited the plaintiff’s shop along with Colonel Razzak said to be serving with the NAB.

The colonel, the plaintiff further alleged, threatened him that he would be implicated in false cases should he refuse to encash the cheques. His counsel, Mohammad Ramzan, submitted that the NAB or the colonel had ‘no authority to intervene in a private dispute of civil nature’.

Justice Rahman, who heard the suit, directed the plaintiff to amend his plaint and implead Col Razzak. In the meanwhile, the post-dated cheques shall not be encashed and the defendant shall not recover from the plaintiff any amount on the basis of the cheques either directly or through any other person or agency without due process of law till the next date — March 24.

APPEALS ADMITTED: A division bench comprising Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Azizullah M. Memon admitted appeals moved by Dr Arshad Waheed and Dr Akmal Waheed against their conviction by an anti-terrorism court. Notices were directed to be issued to the prosecution for a date in office.

The appellants submitted through Advocate M. Ilyas Khan that the convictions could not be sustained by the material produced by the prosecution. There was no evidence of their association with the Jundullah activists who ambushed the corps commander’s convoy and a Rangers’ mobile in Karachi. They had been convicted on the basis of extorted and retracted confessional statements made by the main accused, the appellants contended.

ARREST BARRED: Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed restrained the Anti-Corruption Establishment from arresting Nooruddin and six others who acquired plots of land in a scam involving a number of revenue officials.

The accused, who have been named as beneficiaries in three first information reports regarding the offence, moved an application for interim protective bail to enable them to approach the trial court or the high court for seeking bail. They said they would be prevented from seeking pre-arrest bail by the anti-corruption police, who were out to arrest them.

After hearing Advocate-General Anwar Mansoor Khan and the applicants’ counsel, M. Ilyas Khan, the court ordered that the applicants should not be arrested till March 24 midnight to enable them to approach a court for bail.