KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Friday expressed resentment on the provincial secretary of the food department for issuing posting orders in an indiscriminate manner by giving acting and additional charge to junior officers in violation of law and directed the authorities to appoint district food controllers within a month.

The two-judge bench headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar directed the chief secretary of Sindh to ensure that all transfers and postings in the food department were made by the secretary of food strictly in accordance with law laid down by the superior courts.

The bench disposed of a petition filed against various notifications of the food department allowing six assistant food controllers (BS-15) to look after the offices of district food controller as stopgap arrangements after it was informed that five out of six officers in question had ceased to hold the charge of district food controllers and additional charge was given to some other officers.

The lawyer for the petitioner pointed out that after the bench passed an interim order in this case, the food secretary issued another notification on April 30 which showed the sixth assistant food controller (respondent) as holding acting charge of additional district food officer (BS-16) and besides he was also posted as storage and enforcement officer of Sukkur food region and contended that the subsequent appointment was also illegal.

The counsel for the respondents strongly refuted it and argued that the respondent in question was promoted to BS-16 and thus he was eligible for the post of district food controller.

The bench directed the chief secretary and the food secretary to appoint district food controllers within a month strictly in accordance with the law laid down by the Supreme Court and also asked them to place the case of the sixth assistant food controller, who was said to be promoted, before the departmental promotion committee for consideration within 30 days and till the final decision of DPC, the notification about his appointment will remain suspended.

Conviction set aside

Another division bench of the SHC on Friday set aside the life imprisonment handed down to a man by the trial court in a bomb blast case.

An antiterrorism court had sentenced Imran, said to be a militant of banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, to life imprisonment in March 2017 for a bomb explosion in a flat in Patel Para in July 2013 that left him injured and his three accomplices dead.

The convict through his lawyer approached the SHC and filed appeal against the trial court order. After hearing arguments and examining the record and proceedings of the case, the appellate bench headed by Justice K.K. Agha allowed the appeal and overturned the trial court’s verdict.

According to the prosecution, three militants Matiuddin, Mohammad Naeem and Subhan were killed while Imran sustained injures when a bomb went off apparently due to mishandling of explosive material inside their flat in Patel Para.

An explosive device was also found from the flat and the bomb went off when the LJ militants were apparently trying to attach a battery to it, it maintained.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2020