KARACHI, March 19: The city government and the Jamshed Town have been asked by the Sindh High Court to explain on March 28 why a bachat bazaar licence had allegedly been granted to a favourite at much below the prevailing rate.

The notices were issued by a division bench, comprising Justices Sabihuddin Ahmed and S. Ali Aslam Jafri, on a writ petition moved Mohammad Akbar, who hitherto organized the weekly bazaar on Shaheen Grounds, Jamshed Town.

He claimed that he paid Rs 27,000 per month to the city government and the town. They have, however, leased out rights to hold the bazaar to a favourite for Rs 10,000 per month. A big loss was thus being caused to the municipal bodies. The petitioner requested the court to direct the city government authorities to cancel the new licence and restore his own contract.

PS engineers: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday allowed bail to two former Pakistan Steel engineers who have challenged their conviction by an accountability court.

The court also issued notice to the superintendent of Central Prison Karachi to explain why they have not been given the benefit of remissions, like some other convicted prisoners.

Engineers Qaiser Raza and Abdul Wahab were co-accused in a reference against former PSM chairman Usman Faruqui.

They were arrested in 1997 and were tried by an accountability court, which sentenced them to seven years’ jail and a fine of Rs 1.5 million each in 2001. They moved appeals against their conviction and sentences in the high court.

Appearing for the appellants, Rasheed A. Razvi and Raza Hashmi submitted that they were entitled to be released as they have served out their jail terms if allowed remissions was granted to them from time to time.

They said the jail authorities were selective in allowing remission and withheld them in certain cases arbitrarily.

The appellants should at least be released on bail pending the hearing of their appeals, the counsel said.

A division bench, comprising Justices Shabbir Ahmed and Azizullah M. Memon, admitted both the appellants to bail in the sum of Rs 1 million each and issued a show-cause notice to the jail superintendent.

Quashment ordered: The Sindh High Court ordered on Wednesday quashment of a case against a former director of a liquidated textile mills for untenability of the prosecution charge against her.

Petitioner Bano Zahid Ali submitted that she was an employee- director, with nominal shareholding, of Shahryar Textile Mills, which was wound up by a court order at the behest of a creditor bank in 1993.

The mills was transferred to the Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan by the official assignee after a public auction. The IDBP filed a complaint against her for removing certain goods of the liquidated mills and she was arraigned before a special court for offences in banks.

The petitioner said the IDBP did not produce any survey report with its complaint showing any misappropriation of the goods. The inventory submitted by the complainant did not disclose any misappropriation either. There was no likelihood of her conviction on the basis of the material produced by the prosecution.

A division bench, comprising Justices Shabbir Ahmed and Azizullah M. Memon, allowed the petition and ordered quashment of the case against the petitioner.

NOTICE ISSUED: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the provincial agriculture department in a petition alleging direct recruitment to its grade 17 vacancies in preference to the candidates recommended by the Sindh Public Service Commission.

A candidate submitted through Advocate Mohammad Nawaz Shaikh that he was a gold medalist MSc in agriculture and had applied for a grade 17 job in response to an SPSC advertisement. He was selected and recommended by the commission but was not given the job by the agriculture department on the pretext that there was no vacancy. Instead, the department made direct appointments without involving the commission in the process, he alleged.

A division bench, comprising Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Khilji Arif Hussain, directed that a notice be issued to the respondent department.

Another division bench, which consisted of Justices Mohammad Roshan Essani and Anwar Zaheer Jamali, issued notice to the Sindh Industrial and Trading Estate in a petition alleging non-payment of salary by a SITE employee.