KARACHI: Home deptt told to pay compensation: Illegal detention case
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, April 20: The Sindh High Court on Thursday ordered immediate release of a man detained by the jail authorities despite expiry of his detention period and asked the Central Prison superintendent and the home department to pay the detainee Rs 420,000 as compensation for his illegal confinement since Jan 26.
A petitioner, Roshan Deen of Omerkot, submitted that his brother Niaz Mohammad was not released by the jail authorities after expiry of his detention. His counsel, Saleem Samoo, said Niaz was arrested by the ‘intelligence battalion’ on July 6, 2005, without a detention order or production before the federal review board. Later, after five months of detention, Niaz was detained on a home department order for three months, which also expired on Jan 26.
An SHC division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui, took a serious view of the illegal confinement and observed that it was “a matter of shame” for the entire system that a person was detained without a formal detention order and without being produced before any board or court.
The bench ordered immediate release of the detainee and directed the jail superintendent and the provincial home department to pay him Rs5,000 per day as compensation for illegally confinement.
REMARKS SOUGHT: The Sindh High Court sought on Thursday federal government’s comments on a petition alleging illegal detention of a mosque prayer leader by law enforcement agencies.
Petitioner Naz Bibi alleged that her husband, Mohammad Alim Tariq, pesh-imam of a mosque in Gulshan-i-Hadeed, was arrested by the SHO of Shah Latif Town on Dec 17, 2005, without disclosing any allegation against him. He was not shown arrested in any case and not produced before a judicial magistrate. Her counsel, Omer Farooq Khan, submitted that the detainee was being interrogated by the Rangers and the Inter Services Intelligence at an undisclosed location. The SHO of Shah Latif Town and the town police officer, however, denied the detention or arrest of the detainee.
An SHC division bench, comprising Justices Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Gulzar Ahmed, issued a notice for May 5 to a deputy attorney-general for comments on behalf of the federal government.
APPEAL DISMISSED: An anti-terrorism appellate bench of the Sindh High Court dismissed on Thursday an appeal moved by an accused convicted for demanding and collecting extortion money (‘bhatta’) on behalf of a notorious gang of dacoits.
Dur Mohammad Baloch moved the appeal against his conviction and sentence by an anti-terrorism court of Karachi. The appellant and co-accused Khalid alias Shoaib Baloch were charged and tried under Section 7 (h) of the Anti-Terrorist Act, read with Section 386 of the penal code.
According to the prosecution, the accused claimed to be a member of Arshad Papoo gang demanded Rs 50,000 from complainant Mohammad Nadeem, owner of a hardware shop in Shershah. An amount of Rs 30,000 was agreed upon after negotiation and the complainant was asked to pay Rs10,000 as first instalment.
When the appellant arrived to collect the instalment, he was caught by the residents of the area and handed to the Rangers, who turned him over to police. The police booked and prosecuted him them under the ATA and PPC. Co-accused Khalid alias Shoaib Baloch was declared absconder in the case.
The trial court sentenced appellant Dur Mohammad Baloch to serve a five-year jail term, pay a fine of Rs 20,000 or undergo imprisonment for six months more, in case of default.
After hearing the appellant’s counsel and Assistant Advocate-General Habib Ahmed, the appellate bench, which consisted of Justices Rehmat Hussain Jaffri and Ali Sain Dino Metlo dismissed the appeal by a short order for reasons to be recorded later.
TIME GIVEN: The Sindh High Court has allowed the provincial government two months more to convene a meeting of the selection board for appointment of an executive district officer for schools in the city district government on payment of Rs 20,000 as costs.
On a petition moved by Gul Mohammad Hajano, a division bench, comprising, Chief Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Mrs Qaiser Iqbal, observed in its order of April 15 that despite repeated directions of the court, no meeting of the provincial selection board has been convened for appointment of duly qualified EDO for schools in Karachi.
Assistant Advocate-General Mohammad Qasim Mirjat, the bench said, seeks more time for compliance.
“We are afraid no justification for further grant of time is made out when a duty required to be performed has not been performed for several years despite repeated directions. Nevertheless, in the interest of smooth functioning of the department, we would grant two months’ time but only upon payment of costs of Rs 20,000 to be deposited in the High Court Employees Benevolent Fund within a week”, the bench said in its order.
It warned that failure to comply with the order “may be treated as contempt of court and dealt with accordingly” and fixed May 31 as the next date of hearing.
