KARACHI, July 3 The fathers of the trafficking accused being detained in Saudi Arabia moved a petition in the Sindh High Court through Advocate Javaid Ahmed Chhatari saying that the officials of the Anti-Narcotics Force and the Customs were guilty of connivance in allowing the innocent pilgrims to proceed to Jeddah.

They said the ANF and Customs officials posted at the airport meticulously check the intending pilgrims for contrabands and it was surprising that they could not detect the heroin concealed in the chappals they were wearing at the time of their departure. The chappals had been gifted to them by their travel agents, who have already been booked.

Petitioner Raees Ahmed, father of Shumaila Arif and father-in-law of Mohammad Arif, and petitioner Abdul Wahid, father of Rabia Anees, father-in-law of Anees Ahmed and brother-in-law of Zohra Mosani, all detained in Saudi Arabia, requested the court to order an inquiry into the affair and direct the interior ministry to hand over the custody of the real culprits to the Saudi government and secure the release of innocent pilgrims.

Carbon tax challenged

Advocate Sohail Hameed filed a writ petition to challenge the imposition of a carbon tax on petrol and petroleum products. Under the Constitution, he said, a tax cannot be levied otherwise than by an Act of Parliament. The impugned levy had been imposed through the federal budget, which was debated and approved only by the lower house of parliament, that is, the National Assembly. The government has thus circumvented the procedure prescribed for enactment of laws and imposition of taxes by the National Assembly and the Senate separately. Besides, the petitioner-lawyer said, the tax enhanced oil prices, which were linked to prices in the international market. Petroleum prices could not be raised to meet budgetary deficit. The rise in oil prices would lead to an increase in the prices of all essential commodities. A general price hike would break the back of the common man, who was already finding it difficult to make ends meet. Surprisingly, he said, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority moved no summary when oil price dropped from $140 to $40.The petition requested the court to declare the tax as being repugnant to the fundamental rights to life and human dignity and in violation of the legislative procedure prescribed by the Constitution.

Conviction set aside

Justice Salahuddin Mirza of the Federal Shariat Court, meanwhile, set aside the conviction and sentence of Ajab Khan under Section 10 (3) of the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance. He and co-accused Anwar Khan were charged with raping two Hindu women in a village near Mirpurkhas. The co-accused absconded while Ajab Khan was sentenced to five years by a sessions court of Mirpurkhas. Arguing for the appellant, Advocate Mahmood A. Qureshi submitted that the testimony of the prosecution witnesses was contradictory. Medical evidence was negative and the conviction was based on mere probability.