SC doubts impartial polls in ‘paranoid’ Karachi

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said there remained serious question over the possibility of holding transparent election in Karachi where the masses had been rendered “paranoid” by continued violence.
Hearing the implementation case of its suo motu notice of law and order in Karachi at the Supreme Court’s Karachi Registry, the bench of Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Amir Hani Muslim questioned the role of legislature in Sindh after police told the court that around 2,300 people were killed in the port city in 2012, while about 22,000 declared absconders and criminals were still at large in the violence-hit financial capital.
To the utter surprise of judges, senior police officials came up with highly contradictory figures when the court asked them to tell the number of investigation officers (IOs) currently working in the metropolis.
The bench also rejected a compliance report submitted by Sindh Advocate General Abdul Fattah Malik and sought a “para-wise” clarification of the court’s orders issued last year. The clarification is to be made in today (Thursday’s) hearing.
The bench questioned the role of the Sindh Assembly when SSP Niaz Khoso said the city’s law and order could improve within a month’s time if the long-pending laws on arms control and witness protection were promulgated. Sindh Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Wasim Ahmed told the bench that his department had sent a summary to the federal law secretary in this regard.
The bench said after the 18th Amendment, the provinces were enjoying autonomy and could therefore legislate themselves. The ACS, however, said the government wanted to introduce a uniform law across the country to protect witnesses and discourage arms.
Sindh AG Abdul Fattah Malik told the court that he had attended a meeting at the Sindh CM House where it was observed that the legislation on arms control in the city had become a political issue.
Justice Khilji asked if Malik meant that the Sindh Assembly was not ready to legislate on what he (AG) and the court would order. Justice Khawaja said the masses may then decide, through balloting, the fate of their elected representatives who were reluctant to make laws for their protection.
Earlier, Sindh Additional Inspector General (AIG) Iqbal Mehmood told the bench that during 2012, at least 2,300 people fell victim to targeted killings in the city, while 22,000 declared criminals were wandering with impunity. He said 105 incidents of kidnapping for ransom had been reported during the past year. Justice Khawaja expressed his concern about the possibility of a free and fair election in a city like Karachi where the voters were highly paranoid. Sindh SSP Niaz Khoso said the situation would not take more than a month to improve if witnesses were protected through promulgating the relevant laws. He said no one in the city was ready to register a case against criminals or at least become a state witness in a case.
Calling the strength of police department inadequate for maintaining peace in the city, the bench asked how many IOs were there in the metropolis. The IGP said around 2,000, the additional IGP said 700 to 800, while the DIG investigation quoted the number at 250. Justice Hani, however, said only 159 investigation officers were present in the city currently. The bench was told that no recruitments in police department could be made in view of ECP’s ban on the same. The bench reminded the government officials that while the ban was recently imposed, the court’s order dated back a year.