KARACHI, Jan 16: The Sindh High Court on Friday restrained the city district government from taking action against polythene bag manufacturers and dealers till Jan 22 when a petition moved by them would come up for hearing.
The Plastic Bag Manufacturers and Dealers Association submitted through Advocate Khalid Jawed Khan that the city district government has banned the production, sale and use of polythene bags below 150 microns in thickness under Section 144 of the criminal procedure code.
The Sindh Assembly, it stated, had enacted a law in 2006 restricting the manufacture and sale of bags of thickness under 30 microns and the statutory limit could not be altered by the respondent government. It said the bags were sought to be banned because they are non-degradable and injurious to the environment and sewage disposal network. The real problem, however, was the absence of an efficient solid waste disposal system, the petitioner maintained.
Issuing notices to the respondent government, the chief secretary and the advocate-general for Jan 22, a division bench comprising Justices Khilji Arif Hussain and Arshad Noor Khan barred the authorities from taking action against the members of the petitioner association under Section 144 in the meantime.
Benazir’s suit adjourned
Justice Zafar Ahmed Khan Sherwani, meanwhile, adjourned the hearing of a suit instituted by the late prime minister Benazir Bhutto against former PML (N) senator and accountability chief Saifur Rehman Khan in 1998. The plaintiff said the defendant held a news conference to claim that the Swiss judicial authorities had passed an order against her. The claim was false and was made in an attempt to defame her and lower her esteem among the people. She prayed that the defendant be asked to pay her Rs90 million on account of the mental torture and loss of reputation suffered by her.
As the suit came up for hearing, the court ordered that the plaintiff’s legal heirs be joined as a party and adjourned further proceedings at a request made on behalf of her counsel, Advocate Kamaluddin Azfar.
Appellant released
A Supreme Court bench consisting of Justices Zia Pervez, Sabihuddin Ahmed and Sarmad Jalal Osmany ordered the release of appellant Shahid alias Kallu. The appellant’s counsel, Khwaja Naveed Ahmed and Qadir Bux Jatoi, argued that he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment and various other jail terms in a kidnapping-for-ransom case. He was alleged to have kidnapped an industrialist from the SITE area. He was confronted by police and his accomplice was killed in the ensuing shoot-out. The kidnapped industrialist was freed by the police and no ransom was demanded or received. He could be sentenced to a maximum sentence of seven years on other charges. If allowed remissions, he has already served out the seven-year sentence.
Cement concern restrained
Justice Amir Hani Muslim of the Sindh High Court restrained the Dewan Cement Limited and defendant financial institutions in two suits filed by the Central Depository Company for recovery of about Rs350 million from creating third party interest in the subject-matter of the suits. The plaintiff submitted through Advocates Kazim Hasan and Abdul Qayyum Abbasi that the cement concern availed financial facilities by hypothecating stocks but failed to issue term finance certificates under the agreement. It had first charges against the assets of the defendant concern.
Notices issued
The bench consisting of Justices K.A. Hussain and A.N. Khan issued notices to the Lyari Development Authority and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority for January 27 in a petition moved by the Karachi Contractors Association through Advocate S.M. Nehal Hashmi. The petitioner contended that the development authority has invited tenders for various public works in violation of the public procure rules. Only selected contractors were being allowed to submit tenders while those holding licences from the Pakistan Engineering Council had been effectively barred.
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