KARACHI: SHC orders detainee’s production on 18th
KARACHI, Jan 15: A division bench of the Sindh High Court ordered production of ‘Mohammad Shahid Rind’ being held in police custody as ‘Bahadar Brohi’, brother of the dacoit, Mashooq Brohi, claimed to have been killed in an encounter.
Appearing for the detainee’s uncle Ghulam Hussain Rind, Advocate Adnan Karim told a division bench comprising Justices Yasmin Abbasy and Farrukh Zia G. Shaikh that Shahid had been detained since July 2007 on mere suspicion.
The court had quashed a case belatedly registered against him to justify his arrest and confinement and had ordered his release. The court also ordered an identification parade to ascertain whether he was Bahadar Brohi or Shahid Rind. Anti-corruption director A.D. Khwaja was asked to conduct an inquiry into the alleged police torture against him. None of the directions had, however, been complied with, the counsel said.
An anti-corruption establishment official representing its director submitted a detailed report stating that the counsel and relatives of the detainee were not co-operating with him. Despite several summons to specifically state their allegations and the officials responsible, they were not forthcoming with their comprehensive statements.
A police official said the detainee was being held because of a warrant for his arrest issued by an anti-terrorism court subsequent to the high court release order. He agreed with the counsel that the warrant named Bahadar Brohi and not Shahid Rind as accused.
The bench asked Additional Advocate-General Fareed A. Dayo to ensure the production of the detainee on Jan 18 with a list of cases registered against him.
Notices issued
The bench also issued notices to the provincial finance and agriculture secretaries in a petition by Nabi Bux Jahajo and 14 other water management officers of the agriculture department for the grant of grade 17.
They submitted through Advocate Mohammad Nawaz Shaikh that they had put in about 20 years of service but were not being moved over to the next grade. They said the post was upgraded in 1997 and their colleagues recruited subsequently had been placed in grade 17. They said they were being ‘discriminated’ only because they were diploma holders while their colleagues were agriculture science graduates.
However, the petitioners claimed, the nature of job and responsibilities were the same as of BSc-qualified water management officers. They also claimed that their pleas for grade 17 had been recommended by the agriculture secretary but was being resisted by the finance department.
Drug labelling
Another bench comprising Justices Azizullah M. Memon and Khwaja Naveed Ahmed asked a petitioner drug importer to ensure that the imported medicines were properly labeled. M/s Macter International (Pvt) Limited submitted through Advocate Shafi Mohammadi that they had imported a consignment of Hepatitis-C drugs but the medicine was not being registered by the federal health ministry for marketing in Pakistan.
The federal government standing counsel, Sofia Saeed, submitted that under the Drug Labelling Act, all drug manufacturers must display their manufacturing and expiry dates not only on the outer packing but also on the main container or bottle. The manufacturer or importer had failed to comply with the requirement in the present case. The ministry of health had no objection to registration if all the conditions prescribed by the law were complied with.
Election appeals
Writ petitions challenging election tribunal decisions in respect of eligibility of candidates continue to be filed because of the postponement of balloting to Feb 18.
The latest appeals have been moved by Sardar Ahmad Yar Shar, Roshan Din Junejo and Imdad Ali Khan. They have challenged the eligibility of their rival candidates from Ghotki, Sangarh and Jaiobabad, including Dr Jam Mahtab Dahar and Jam Mashooq Ali.
A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Mohammad Afzal Soomro and Justices Ms Qaiser Iqbal and Mahmood Alam Rizvi has issued notices to the Election Commission and private respondents for Jan 21.