KARACHI, July 25: The petition of Afaq Ahmed, the chairman of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, better known as MQM-Haqiqi, seeking protection against political victimisation and prosecution in false cases could not be heard on Monday as another judge of the Sindh High Court refused to proceed with the matter.

Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh told Mr Afaq's counsel that he could not proceed with the petition.

Earlier, Justice Mohammed Athar Saeed had refused to proceed with Mr Ahmed's petition that was transferred to another judge, Tufail H. Ebrahim.

However, the petition was later transferred to Justice Shaikh after the resignation of Justice Ebrahim.

The petitioner, represented by Advocates Ilyas Khan and Mohammad Farooq, submitted that he was not being allowed to be in politics for the past nine years on the basis of false and fabricated cases.

Mr Ahmed, who has been incarcerated since April 2004, stated in the petition that he had disassociated himself from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (Altaf group) due to political and ideological differences with the party leadership.

He alleged that he was being booked and prosecuted in false cases at the behest of the rival MQM that was also a coalition partner in the present government.

The Haqiqi chief submitted that he had been acquitted or given bail in all cases but police, on the instruction of the government, implicated him in new cases to keep him jailed.

According to his counsel, five criminal cases were registered at the Saudabad, Landhi and Al-Falah police stations over the last couple of years against the petitioner who was mentioned as abettor, but he was not put on trial due to lack of evidence.

They submitted that the cases were registered on complaints of rival MQM activists and apprehended that the petitioner might be again arrested in the new cases soon after his release from prison.

The petitioner prayed to the court to direct the police to disclose cases against him or in which he was named or likely to be implicated.

He also prayed to the court to direct the police officials to seek permission from court prior to filing of charge-sheets in which the petitioner had been exonerated by the police.

He also requested the court to restrain the superintendent of jail from informing the police of his release from prison.

The Haqiqi chief also prayed to the court to direct the authorities to obtain prior permission from the court if any action against the petitioner was to be taken under the Maintenance of Public Order ordinance.

The officials of the Al-Falah, Saudabad and Landhi police stations have already filed their respective comments mentioning that the petitioner had not been put on trial due to insufficient evidence against him.

Missing person case

A division bench headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed directed SSP Niaz Ahmed Khoso to complete his investigation into a missing person case related to a former union council nazim of Kalakot and submit his report on Aug 4.

The SSP had requested the court to assign the task of investigation to some other police officer, because he wanted to proceed to Makkah to perform Umrah.

Petitioner Nazia Bibi, wife of Abdur Rauf Baloch, had earlier approached the court against the alleged detention of her husband by the personnel of law-enforcement agencies in plain clothes.

She impleaded the provincial and city police chiefs, the prisons' chief and his deputy, the superintendent of the Central Prison Karachi and the SSPs of the CID and Special Investigation Unit as respondents.

The petitioner, represented by Advocate Nazir Ahmed, submitted that her husband was released on bail from jail on June 18 after being imprisoned for 10 months in “false cases”.

However, she stated, the personnel, who came in a white vehicle, picked up her husband after his release from jail at around 6.30pm and took him away.

She submitted that she approached the prison and police authorities to ascertain her husband's whereabouts, but to no avail. She prayed to the court to direct the respondents to produce her husband in court and also sought protection for him.

On Monday, SSP Khoso stated that the alleged missing man was not in the custody of police. He stated that he had written to the provincial police chief for getting permission to contact agencies to inquire about the missing man.