KARACHI, Feb 20: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday appointed a counsel for death row convicts unable to engage a lawyer despite adjournment granted by the high court for the purpose.
A bench consisting of Justices Qaiser Iqbal and M.A. Rizvi asked Advocate Mohammad Farooq to act as counsel for the death row convicts and argue their appeals against the anti-terrorism court judgment challenged by them in their jail appeals. Ataur Rehman, Shahzad Bajwa and Shahzad Mukhtar, allegedly associated with the outlawed militant outfit Jundullah, were sentenced to death by an ATC for killing three Rangers personnel at Baloch Colony in 2002. The appeals would be heard on February 24.
Gas price plea
The Sindh High Court asked a gas dealer on Wednesday to approach the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) against the price of liquefied petroleum gas.
Petitioner Pro Gas Limited complained that the Ogra has fixed an uneconomical price, which was below the cost of processing and distribution. It was unable to sell the LPG cylinders at the fixed price but the authority threatened action, including cancellation of its licence, if it charged more.
Contesting the petition, Ogra counsel Khalid Mahmood Siddiqui said the price was reasonable and uniform and was adhered to by 63 other dealers. It was fixed after taking all relevant factors into consideration. The matter agitated by the petitioner involved disputes questions of fact that could not be settled in writ jurisdiction. Besides, the petitioner company had a statutory remedy of representation before the authority and had approached the high court without exhausting it.
Disposing of the petition, a division bench comprising Justices Azizullah M. Memon and Arshad Noor Khan asked the petitioner concerned to make a representation before the authority as contemplated by the Ogra Ordinance. The authority would decide the issue within 10 days after hearing the petitioner and other stakeholders.
DIG refused bail
Deputy Inspector-General Altaf Hussain Bhatti was on Wednesday refused bail by a division bench consisting of Justices Mrs Qaiser Mirza and Mahmood Alam Rizvi. He is accused by the National Accountability Bureau of acquiring over 406 acres of government land in his name and in that of his relatives. Seeking bail, he said he had nothing to do with the allotment of state land or with the lessees. There was nothing on record to show that he misused his authority to enrich himself or his relatives.
Opposing the bail plea, NAB counsel Ainuddin Khan said the DIG had accumulated wealth that could not be accounted for by known sources of his income. It was for the trial accountability court to assess the evidence and it should be allowed to proceed. The accused being a high police officer could influence the witnesses and ultimately the outcome of the case.
The bench also dismissed the bail pleas of Nadir Khan, former manager, HBL, Burns Road, Karachi, and Gul Hassan Saand, director administration and accounts, provincial agriculture department.
Shahabuddin Market
Poultry and bird sellers of Shahabuddin Market, which is being rebuilt by the CDGK, complained that the space provided to them in the makeshift market in the Lines Area was insufficient for the purposes of their business and smaller than the space formerly occupied by them.
A division bench comprising Justices Munib Ahmed Khan and Farrukh Zia Shaikh directed the CDGK to give them two-thirds of the space earlier occupied by them in the makeshift market as done in the case of other shopkeepers.