Supreme Court (SC) ordered authorities to lock away non custom paid vehicles and to conduct a survey regarding the status and use of the state owned land within three months.
A 5-member bench of SC led by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali resumed the hearing of Karachi law and order situation at Karachi registry on Wednesday. The four other members of the bench are Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Sarmad Jalal Usmani, Justice Amir Hani Muslim, Justice Gulzar Ahmad and Justice Muhammad Akhtar Saeed. Sindh Chief Secretary Rana Ghulam Abbas, Sindh Advocate General (AG) Abdul Fatah Malik, Sindh additional chief secretary Wasim Ahmad and Sindh IG Fayyaz Leghari were also present in the court when the order was given.
Report on the conduct of prisoners who were released on parole during the last five years was presented in the court. It was stated in the report that over 300 persons were set free on parole.
Justice Amir Hani Muslim observed that half of the 300 named in the list were released more than once on paroles and were repeatedly arrested on charges of possessing illegal arms.
Justice Sarmad Jamal Usmani said “we send the culprits to jail and you release them. The court’s position will reduce to nullity this way”.
Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali said that no one named in the list deserved to be released on parole.
The court ordered that it be informed in writing on the grounds on which the accused were set free and the court also told authorities to comment on the fact that only members of political parties were released despite being chronic criminals. Justice Anwar Zahir Jamali said that Karachi is the back bone of the country, but economic situation has deteriorated here due to law and order situation. Unemployment is on rise and the business community is shifting their enterprise from Karachi to other countries. He said that every trader was complaining of lack of security for the last four years. Justice Jamali said that presently there were 8000 Taliban present in Karachi. He ordered police and Rangers to submit a report regarding the measures it had adopted to counter Taliban in the city. Justice Jamali ordered that vehicles plying without number plates, non custom paid illegal vehicles and motor cycles without registration be confiscated forthwith because all criminals were using unregistered vehicles. He said that the culture of unregistered and illegal vehicles was rampant in the city because some hollow elites deemed such a practice to be a symbol of status.
The Bench humored the reports presented by Sindh DG Rangers and IG police that law and order situation prevelant in the city was satisfactory. The court summoned DIG Traffic and secretary excise and taxation for the next hearing for gauging the progress on its orders of confiscating illegal and unregistered vehicles.
Justice Anwar Zahir Jamali inquired from Additional IG Karachi Iqbal Mehmood regarding arrest of those who had shot dead animals ahead of Eid ul Azha. The AIG replied that police teams chased the culprits but they fled. In reaction to the statement of AIG, the Justice ordered him to present the wireless record of the police teams chasing the criminals in the court.
Justice Jamali observed that families of martyred police officers and personnel who took part in 1992 operation at Karachi were neither paid any compensation nor were they given the status of martyrs. However police informed that 254 police officers and police personnel who participated in Karachi operation were murdered and compensation was paid to 239 officers while the remaining were killed after their retirement or resignation. Who will see the cases of those who are killed after their retirement, the court remarked. The court was told that 15 police personnel who were killed were not paid any compensation. The court ordered for immediate payment of compensation to their family members.
Jamali said that illegal possession of state owned lands was the root cause of the prevalent, dismal of law and order situation in the city. Sindh Advocate General requested the court to grant the Sindh government one year for the completion of a survey of all state owned property in Karachi Division. However Jamali rejected the request that the survey could be conducted in a maximum time span of three months by using geographical information system. He remarked that revenue record was set ablaze deliberately following Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. On the request of Sindh AG, the court nullified the contempt notices against Sindh chief secretary.
