KARACHI, Oct 30: Expressing dissatisfaction and annoyance over the performance of the Federal Board of Revenue, Pakistan Coast Guards and Maritime Security Agency in curbing the smuggling of arms into Karachi, the Supreme Court directed the chief federal law officer to submit a blueprint of the grand operation against the menace after holding a meeting of the interior ministry and federal government functionaries.

The directive was issued by a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja and Justice Gulzar Ahmed, which had taken up implementation of the court’s judgment in the Karachi law and order case at the Karachi registry of the Supreme Court.

The Advocate General of Sindh, Khalid Javed Khan, informed the court that the provincial government had chalked out a strategy to recover illicit arms in a house-to-house search operation by imposing curfew in certain areas.

The chief justice expressed satisfaction over the steps taken by the provincial government to curb lawlessness in Karachi and said that it was a good sign that police and Rangers were making “remarkable” efforts to bring the situation under control. “Action against criminals must continue as it will be unfortunate if the authorities succumbed to any political expediency,” he said.

The chief justice said illegal arms and ammunition were major factors behind the law and order situation in the city. “Illicit arms and ammunition must be recovered even if the support of army or paramilitary troops is required in the grand operation.”

The bench went through the contents of a one-man commission’s report and other material placed before it about the smuggling of arms and ammunition into Karachi and observed that besides the customs department (preventing wing), the Pakistan Coast Guard was also authorised under Section 3 of the Pakistan Coast Guards Act 1973 to prevent the smuggling.

The FBR chairman submitted that the US authorities had said their arms and ammunition were not brought by containers landing at the Karachi Port.

Raja Irshad, a lawyer, disputed the FBR chairman’s claims and said the US authorities’ stand was baseless as he could prove that the latest weapons had trickled into the country through containers. This caused a loss of Rs65 billion to the national exchequer. He said nine reports on the issue had been submitted to the court.

The court directed its office to place on record these reports.

Attorney General Munir A. Malik opposed the summoning of the reports and informed the court that the US ambassador to Pakistan had stated no container had been stolen.

The court was informed that the powers authorising the Pakistan Coast Guards to prevent the smuggling had been withdrawn by the federal government/revenue division in 2006.

The bench observed that without commenting on the effect of withdrawal of such powers it was of the opinion that two sections — 3 and 14 of the Pakistan Coast Guards Act 1973 — were relevant for the purpose. Whether or not these powers were withdrawn, it said, the Pakistan Coast Guards was authorised to prevent all kinds of smuggling and apprehend the culprits.

Similarly, the court observed, the Maritime Security Agency, as well as police and Rangers, were empowered to prevent the smuggling.

But despite these powers available to all agencies, the court regretted, Karachi was full of arms and ammunition. It said that a report submitted by the director general of Customs Intelligence on Sept 6 had identified Sohrab Goth and Yousaf Goth as the places where arms and ammunition were dumped and these were used for terrorist activities in Karachi.

The customs officials took the stance that arms and ammunition were coming into the city from land routes.

“Be that as it may, it would again be the duty either of the customs department, Rangers or police, but primarily the customs department is to take responsibility to stop the smuggling of illicit arms and ammunition into the city,” the court observed.

The director general of Anti-Narcotics Force submitted a report on the performance of the force.

But the court rejected it and asked him to give details of each case registered. “There is no denial that the drug mafia is also free to deal with narcotics as it is evident from the report of the director general of Customs Intelligence. However, on behalf of the ANF, no such report has been filed, except as mentioned hereinbefore, relating to the performance,” the bench said.

The court said it was quite surprising that all law-enforcement agencies were fully aware of the involvement of mafias, but instead of taking preventive measures, they were all present to justify their inaction on one pretext or the other.

The FBR chairman said steps were being taken to curb evasion of customs duty and other levies.

“The achievements made by the provincial government through police and Rangers and with full cooperation and strength of the federal government in exercise of the powers under Article 148(3) of the constitution may not sustain if the menace of black money and illicit arms is not curbed effectively. All the agencies should immediately adopt measures to provide assistance to the provincial government as well as the federal government,” the court said.

It asked the attorney general to hold a meeting with the heads of all law-enforcement agencies and, if needed, consult the interior secretary through telephone conference to provide a plan for achieving the object.

The hearing was adjourned to Thursday.