Sindh government orders strict security for Supreme Court proceedings in city

The Sindh government has ordered the law enforcement agencies to make strict security arrangements for the proceedings of the Supreme Court’s suo motu case on incidents of targeted killings in Karachi.
The apex court’s proceedings are scheduled to take place on Monday and Tuesday at the court’s Karachi registry, and a five-member special bench of the Supreme Court is due to conduct the proceedings.
The bench would be headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprise Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Ameer Hani Muslim and Ghulam Rabbani.
According to official sources, a large number of police and Rangers personnel would be deployed outside and around the apex court’s Karachi registry situated near Shaheen Complex.
Plainclothes personnel of the intelligence and law enforcement agencies would also be deployed in the area, whereas senior officials would personally monitor the security arrangements on the days of the proceedings.
The Supreme Court’s Karachi registry has also chalked out its security plan for the two-day proceedings of the suo motu case.
The apex court would issue special passes for lawyers, petitioners, respondents and the media personnel for entering the premises of the Supreme Court building during the proceedings, and no one would be allowed to enter without the special pass.
The people appearing in other cases on these two days would also have to obtain special passes for themselves.
According to the directives issued by the Supreme Court Secretariat, any common citizen could also obtain a pass if s/he is interested in attending the proceedings of the targeted killings case.
A large number of people, including media personnel, are expected to attend the proceedings; whereas various political parties, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Awami National Party, have submitted applications for becoming party in the case.
Syed Jalal Mahmood Shah of the Save Sindh Committee (SSC) has approached the court for becoming a party in the case, as SSC leader Shah Muhammad Shah, through Mujeeb Pirzada, filed an application for becoming a party in the case.
Interestingly, two lawyer brothers will appear in this case from two different parties, as Hafeez Pirzada is representing the Sindh government in the case.
Meanwhile, Sindh Advocate General Abdul Fatah Malik said that the situation created during the proceedings of the May 12 killings at the Sindh High Court building would not occur during the suo motu hearing of incidents of targeted killings in the city.
In a clarification issued on Saturday regarding a news item published in some sections of the press, he denied saying, “In case the bench of the Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan assembles in Karachi on August 29, 2011, a situation like May 12, 2007 may arise again.”
Malik said that he never stated what was reported in the press. On the contrary, he added, if the Supreme Court assembles at the Karachi registry, a situation like May 12 would not occur.
It is pertinent to mention here that hundreds of people had gathered outside the Sindh High Court when a seven-member bench, headed by Sarmad Jalal Osmany, had started proceedings of the May 12 killings.
People, including women, had told the media personnel that they had assembled to record their testimonies as witnesses of the May 12 killings. However, the bench could not continue the proceedings.