KARACHI: During Thursday’s hearing of the Karachi law and order case, the Supreme Court ordered for all 'no-go' areas in the city to be eliminated within a week, DawnNews reported.
A five-judge larger bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was hearing the case pertaining to implementation of its 2011 order in a suo motu notice over unrest in Karachi.
The bench ordered for a judicial tribunal to be set up within three days over the land grabbing issue in Karachi.
The court also rejected police reports regarding ‘no-go areas in Karachi’ saying they were identical in content.
The bench observed that it appeared that the reports were authored by one person and ordered reports from all 112 police stations in the city to be submitted within 30 minutes’ time.
Moreover Lyari's SSP police was ordered to submit a report from four police stations within his jurisdiction.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry remarked during the hearing that in the caretaker setup the government had only changed the faces but the policies remained the same.
The bench also rejected a report submitted by Ranger officials over the law and order situation in the city over the grounds that the report did not exhibit seriousness over the issue.
Justice Iftikhar further remarked that despite the presence of 11,500 Rangers personnel, certain areas in Karachi like Lyari could not be cleared even after operations were conducted in the 'no-go' areas.
Justice Arif Hussain Khilji said in his remarks that the report appears to indicate that either the Rangers had submitted misleading statement or that they were complicit.
During the previous hearing, top law enforcement officials who had failed to control criminal activities in the city were severely reprimanded.
The officials had admitted before the apex court bench that their men lacked the ‘will’ to combat the growing number of militants and gangsters in the city. This was on account of sluggish follow-up of cases of their colleagues who had been killed by criminals.
The Supreme Court has been hearing the matter pertaining to the implementation of its 2011 verdict in the suo motu notice taken on Karachi’s worsening law and order situation.