All control lies with the Home Department

KARACHI – The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday ruled that the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) should not run the Command and Control System and it should be handed over to the Sindh Home Department. Disposing of the petition, the SHC division bench comprising Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Imam Bux Baloch ordered the formation of a committee headed by Home Department special secretary and Additional Inspector General of Police, with a Rangers lieutenant colonel and a Grade-19 CDGK officer as members to supervise and scuttle the system.
The bench heard the final arguments from both sides on the constitutional petition filed by JI leader and former MNA Mohammed Hussain Mehanti, seeking to hand over the command and control system established by the CGDK to the Sindh government.
Sindh Additional Advocate General Mira Muhammad Shah appeared before the court and submitted a written statement by the Sindh government, informing that the provincial government has decided to run the Command and Control System under the control of Home Department.
The system would be run under the supervision of Home secretary, law enforcers and other stakeholders for keeping vigilance, he added. The petitioner had submitted that the command and control centre was established by the CDGK during its last tenure but the system was misused by a political party.
He added that instead of a political party or a local government, such an important system should be supervised by the provincial government, as it was not run properly and a political party had used it for its own interest.
“Several terrorist attacks including 12 Rabiul Awwal 2006; May 12, 2007; April 9, 2008; and Ashura blast of 2009 had occurred in the city, but no evidence or any video recordings were maintained or given to the law enforcers,” the applicant stated, adding that the Sindh Home Minister had publicly complained for the misuse of command and control system by a particular political party.
Citing CDGK, provincial Home Department and Sindh chief secretary as respondents, the petitioner pleaded the court to issue an order for handing over the system to the Sindh government.