May 07, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1, 1429

PESHAWAR, May 6: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday sought explanation from the district coordination officer of Peshawar for detaining three people under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Jehanzeb Raheem and Justice Shahjee Rehman Khan took exception to the detention order issued under section 3 of the MPO and directed additional advocate-general Ishtiaq Ibrahim to contact the DCO and ascertain the exact reasons for the detention.

The court fixed the case for May 7.The bench was hearing a writ petition filed by detainees Shahid, Itebar Gul and Bukhtiar, stating that they were arrested by police from the Bana Mari area on April 27 and sent to prison on an order of the DCO under the MPO for one month.

The DCO in his order had claimed that the detainees were acting in a manner prejudicial to public safety and public order.

Mohammad Saleem Shakir appeared for the petitioners and contended that the detainees neither belonged to any banned organisation nor they were activists of any political party. He maintained that they were innocent and were not facing any case.

He contended that their detention was in violation to Article 4 of the Constitution, which guaranteed that no action detrimental to the life, liberty or property of any person should be taken, except in accordance with the law. He added that the MPO did not assign unbridled powers to the government to keep a person in preventive detention.

BAIL GRANTED: The Peshawar High Court granted bail to one of the accused charged in the murder case of DIGP Abid Ali and turned down the bail petition of another accused.

A single-bench comprising Justice Hamid Farooq Durrani ordered to release the accused petitioner, Sameen Gul, after he furnished two sureties of Rs200,000 each.

The bench rejected the petition of Niaz Gul and directed the trial court to complete the trial of the case in three months.

DIGP Abid Ali was killed on Dec 18, 2006, when his vehicle was attacked by some people on the Kohat road while he was coming from the Bannu district.

Yousaf Khan Yousafzai appeared for Sameen Gul and argued that the petitioner was arrested on Jan 30, more than a month after the occurrence. He added that there was no evidence on record against the petitioner.

Farhana Marwat appeared for Niaz Gul and contended that he was innocent and was falsely implicated in the case.

Additional advocate-general Ishtiaq Ibrahim told the court that police had recovered two Kalashnikovs from Niaz Gul and a car used in the incident. He said the accused should not be awarded bail because there was enough evidence against him.