KARACHI: The Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court, Sajjad Ali Shah, recused himself on Tuesday from being a member of the bench hearing a constitutional petition that sought a judicial inquiry into the May 12, 2007, killings in Karachi.

The bench was hearing a miscellaneous application of petitioner Syed Iqbal Kazmi seeking constitution of a larger bench for hearing the matter.

The chief justice recused himself from the bench after the federal government’s law officer pointed out that the chief justice was himself one of the victims of the May 12 incidents.

The CJ assigned another division bench, headed by Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh, the hearing of the matter.

The next date of the hearing would be notified later by the court’s office.

The SHC had in Oct 2011 restored to its original position Mr Kazmi’s constitutional petition on his application recalling its earlier order of dismissal of the petition.

Over 50 people were killed and more than 100 vehicles torched during the visit of then Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, who had arrived here to address a lawyers’ function in the city in 2007.

The CJP, who at that time had been made dysfunctional by former president Gen Pervez Musharraf, was stranded and later returned from Karachi airport due to gun battles that broke out on the roads leading to the airport.

The petitioner impleaded the former interior secretary, Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain, former Sindh home adviser Waseem Akhtar, former home secretary retired Brig Ghulam Mohammad Mohtram, the former Rangers director-general, the former provincial and city police chiefs and the former SHO of the City Courts police station as respondents.

In his application for restoration of the petition, Mr Kazmi submitted that his petition had been dismissed as withdrawn at a time when he was behind bars. He said he had signed the withdrawal application under duress and pressure during detention.

The petitioner submitted that it would be appropriate that a seven-member bench of the SHC, including at least three of the judges who had conducted previous proceedings, be constituted to re-hear the matter.

He said that earlier the petition was heard by a larger seven-member bench and prayed to the court to reconstitute a full bench for the petition.

The petitioner stated that the seven-member bench was hearing the case when Gen Musharraf sacked the judges on Nov 3, 2007.

He stated that after dissolution of the seven-member bench, the SHC reconstituted a five-member bench since many judges of that bench were not invited to take the oath under the Provisional Constitution Order by Gen Musharraf.

Mr Kazmi said that later the bench comprising PCO judges dismissed the suo motu petition observing it was not maintainable.

He contended that unruly mobs took over the area and manhandled lawyers as the then home secretary and provincial police chief violated court orders of providing security to the SC chief justice during his visit to Karachi.

He stated that the government had failed to protect life, liberty, freedom of movement, and other fundamental rights of citizens, and prayed to the court to initiate contempt proceedings against the then Sindh home adviser, Waseem Akhtar, for delivering derogatory remarks against the chief justice in the media.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2016