KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Friday dismissed the petition of an accused seeking removal of relevant sections of the anti-terrorism law against him in unlicensed weapons and explosives cases.

Faisal Mehmood alias Mota, said to be a worker of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, along with dozens of other party workers were booked under the Sindh Arms Act, the Explosive Substances Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) for allegedly keeping unlicensed weapons and explosive substances after Rangers made recoveries during a pre-dawn raid at the MQM’s now-sealed headquarters, Nine Zero, in Azizabad in March 2015.

The accused, through his lawyer, moved the SHC seeking removal of sections 6/7 of the ATA from the FIRs after the trial court dismissed an identical application of his.

After hearing arguments from both sides, a two-judge bench headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto dismissed the petition and directed the trial court to conclude the trial within one month.

The petitioner’s lawyer submitted that hand grenades, locally called awan bomb, were among the alleged recoveries but these could not be set off with a rocket launcher.

He submitted that the offences did not come within the ambit of the ATA and requested the high court to transfer the trial from an antiterrorism court to a sessions court.

The Rangers prosecutor argued that the petition was not maintainable since the recovered weapons and explosives were to be used in terrorism activities in the provincial metropolis, adding that four prosecution witnesses had already deposed against him before the trial court.

The cases were registered under Section 23(1)(a) of the Sindh Arms Act, 2013 and Section 4/5 of the Explosive Substances Act, read with Section 7 of the ATA, 1997 on the complaint of an inspector of the paramilitary force at the Azizabad police station.

Faisal Mehmood was also sentenced to death by an ATC in absentia in March 2014 for the murder of journalist Wali Babar. Later, he challenged the capital punishment before the SHC.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2019