The Sindh High Court on Thursday put the Sindh Home secretary, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and others on notice in a constitutional petition filed on behalf of Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi Chairman Afaq Ahmed regarding his probable arrest after he is released from jail.
A division bench comprising Justices Maqbool Baqir and Ghulam Sarwar Korai was hearing the petition. Afaq Ahmed filed the petition through his counsels Ilyas Khan and Khurram Masood, submitting that several forged and baseless cases were registered against him, but none of the charges had been proven during trial.
The counsels argued that whenever Ahmed is acquitted in a case, new cases are registered against him by the police to keep him in prison. They suspected that their client might be booked in new cases again and would not be able to leave the jail, despite the fact that his bail plea was granted by the court in the previous case.
After hearing the preliminary arguments from the petitioner’s side, the court issued notices to the respondents – provincial home secretary, provincial IGP and others – and directed them to submit their comments by May 25.
The petitioner submitted that the court had set aside a lower court’s order regarding life imprisonment and granted his bail plea. In a prior appeal, the court gave judgment against his conviction after examining the evidences and testimonies produced by the prosecution in the trial court.
On April 7, 2010, the Additional District and Sessions Judge had awarded Ahmed and his political rival, Amir Khan, life imprisonment for murdering Muttahida Qaumi Movement activist Farooq Siddiqui on June 19, 1992.
In the trial court, Ahmed’s counsel had denied the charges, saying that his client was innocent and had no involvement in the murder. The counsel had contended that his client was not present in the area at the time of the incident, whereas the prosecution had also failed to establish his involvement in the murder.
