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KARACHI, Nov 8: The Sindh High Court directed the Gambat police on Monday to register a case against eight people accused by a girl of trying to kill her after declaring her 'kari'.
Schoolteacher Rozeena Ujjan submitted through her counsel, Shafqat Shah Masoomi, that she fled her native village Sukhwan in Gambat police station, Khairpur district, and took shelter in Karachi Darul Aman to save her life. She feared that she would be killed if she went back to lodge a complaint with the Gambat police.
Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, who heard her petition, allowed her earlier this month to file a complaint in the court for further action. After perusing the complaint on Monday, the judge ordered that a case be registered against the accused and duly investigated.
According to Rozeena, the accused, including an ASI of her (Ujjan) tribe, murdered her father, Azizullah Ujjan, to grab his agricultural land. When she and her mother, Ayesha Ujjan, resisted and tried to lodge a complaint, she (Rozeena) was declared a 'kari' by the same people. The FIR of the murder case was not registered and the accused ransacked her house to kill her. They took away valuable household items and cash. She and her mother escaped to Karachi with difficulty.
The court had earlier ordered that a second FIR in Azizullah's murder case be registered on the complaint of his widow Ayesha, who informed it that the Gambat police had recorded a concocted version at the behest of the accused.
APPEALS REJECTED: A division bench of the Sindh High Court rejected on Monday four appeals, including two by convicts sentenced to death, moved by absconders.
Rizwan and Hasan Akbar challenged their conviction and death sentences in a multiple murder case. They and seven other accused were alleged to have ambushed a van carrying teachers and students of Madressah Jamia Farooqia, Shah Faisal Colony, on Jan 28, 2001. Five people were killed and several others injured. The accused assailants fled the scene and could not be traced and arrested by police. They were declared absconders and tried in absentia by an anti-terrorism court. They moved their appeals without surrendering to the process of law.
An appellate bench, comprising Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Rehmat Hussain Jafri, found the appeals non-maintainable by a short order. Assistant Advocate-General Habib Ahmed, who contested the maintainability of the appeals, earlier cited recent superior court judgments declaring that absconders have no right to file appeals without surrendering before the law.
One of the co-accused, who faced the trial and challenged his conviction and death penalty, had already been acquitted by the SHC bench.
Another co-accused, who courted arrest after his conviction, was asked to justify the inordinate delay in filing his appeal. The absconders, under the law, can seek a retrial or maintain an appeal only after surrender.
Convicts Mohammad Jamil and Athar Osmany also got their appeals rejected for the same reason. They were accused of kidnapping KDA engineer Jamil Ahmed Baloch in May 2001 for obtaining his signature on a site plan. Both were tried in absentia by an anti- terrorism court and each was sentenced to serve three years rigorous imprisonment and pay Rs 10,000 as fine and Rs 15,000 as compensation to the victim. They assailed their conviction and sentences without surrendering.
BUILDER RESTRAINED: The SHC restrained a builder on Monday from raising an allegedly illegal structure.
Plaintiff Nafisa Begum complained through Advocate Ziaul Haq Makhdoom that a builder was constructing a building near her residence on plot number 123, Block 2, PECHS, in violation of the law and rules. He had converted the plot from residential to commercial and was raising a multi-storeyed structure in contravention of the approved plan.
Justice Mushir Alam, who heard the suit, asked the SHC nazir to inspect the site along with an approved architect to ascertain violations, if any, and submit a report by Nov 23, when the case would again come up for hearing. In the meanwhile, The builder was restrained from raising further constructions.
FRAUD CASE: The Sindh High Court on Monday issued show-cause notice to Mohammad Saleem, secretary to former operating officer of the Mehran Bank, Younus Habib, adds PPI.
SHC's division bench, comprising Justice Wahid Bux Brohi and Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery, issued notices during hearing of an appeal filed by Younis Habib against his conviction in bank fraud case.
The Banking Court had on Dec 14, 1995, convicted Younis Habib and sentenced him to 10 years rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs3,67,19,956, but acquitted the co-accused, Mohammad Saleem Sattar.
The court asked him as to why his acquittal order should not be set aside and his case be remanded back to trial court for disposal in accordance with the law.
During the course of arguments of appeal, the court observed that after going through evidence and judgment of the trial court, it is necessary to examine the case of acquitted accused as the trial court did not appreciate evidence and rules laid down by the superior courts.
Younus Habib and his secretary were charged with lifting the lien on credit facility extended to Expo International amounting to US$ 7,30,600 in gross violation of banking rules.
