The Sindh High Court (SHC) postponed the hearing of Muhajir Qaumi Movement- Haqiqi chief Afaq Ahmed’s bail application yet again on Tuesday until August 26.
Justice Tasnim Ahmed adjourned the bail application on the request of the Additional Prosecutor General Zafar Ahmed as investigation officer (IO) of the case did not appear before the court.
The additional prosecutor general requested the court that as the IO is away due to his training, the court should grant time till August 29.
The Haqiqi chief’s advocate argued that the government and its counsel were using delaying tactics as there is no need of an IO in a bail application.
However, the court granted three days to the prosecution to hear the final arguments on August 26.
The Haqiqi chief’s case has been controversial from the beginning as out of three SHC judges appointed earlier to hear the case, one resigned and the two others refused to hear the matter.
The matter was earlier fixed for hearing before Justice Athar Saeed but he declined to hear the plea. The matter was then fixed before Justice Tufail H Ebrahim, who resigned a day before the date of hearing of the case. Later, Justice Ahmed Ali Sheikh was nominated to hear the case, but he refused as well.
Ahmed in his plea filed through his lawyer Ilyas Khan and Khurram Maqsood had stated that he has been in jail since April 2004 and was implicated in a number of new cases over the last couple of years at the behest of his rival party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. He contended that he has been politically victimised through the several baseless cases filed against him and the prosecution has failed to produce any solid evidence to prove him guilty in any offence in the trial court.
He contended that he had only been put on trial in a case registered against him at the Nabi Bux police station in which the trial court had dismissed his bail and acquittal applications.
He said that the prosecution had no solid evidence to link him with the current case, which was lodged in June 2009 when he was in prison, and it should be quashed.
