A petition seeking judicial inquiry over targeted killings in Karachi since 2009 has been filed in the Sindh High Court.
A representative of the Human Rights Commission of South Asia, Syed Iqbal Kazmi, referring to the killings of over 90 people in the city during the first week of August, submitted that the law-enforcement agencies had failed to protect the life and liberty of the citizens although Article 9 of the Constitution guaranteed protection to citizens, while Article 4 assured that every individual had right to be dealt with in accordance with the law.
The petitioner submitted that the government on the one hand constituted investigation team headed by the DIG West Sultan Khawaja and nine other high-ranking police officers for probing the killing of Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPA, Raza Hyder, who had been assassinated on August 2, while no inquiry team was constituted for probing the murder of over 90 people who had been killed in last week’s violence in the city which was discriminatory as police could not distinguish in investigation and that every citizen was equal in the eyes of the law.
He submitted that the wave of target killings stopped following the visit of federal interior minister Rehman Malik to Karachi who met with the leaders of Awami National Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement which gave the impression that the two parties had some role in the entire episode as the Rangers and police failed to control the killings and violence, but the same abruptly reduced to some extent after the visit of the federal interior minister.
He said that all those criminal cases that had been withdrawn under the National Reconciliation Ordinance in Sindh could not be reopened despite orders of the Supreme Court and prayed the court to order immediate trial of those cases.
The petitioner cited the interior and home secretaries, the DG of Rangers, the IG of police, the Capital City Police Officer Karachi, the DG of ISI, the Director of IB, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Awami National Party as respondents and prayed the court to conduct the judicial inquiry over the killings in the city since 2009.
UNDISPOSED CASES: The Sindh High Court directed the IG of Sindh and the secretary of law to file a detailed report on the steps they had taken for submission of final charge-sheets of 5,422 un-disposed cases in the province.
The court was hearing the petition of the Member of Inspection Team-II regarding non-submission of police reports in 5,422 cases before the trial courts.
The MIT-II had earlier submitted its report before the SHC chief justice who converted the report into a petition observing that non-submission of 5,422 FIRs was alarming. The MIT submitted in the report that neither the FIRs were disposed of by the police nor the charge-sheets of these cases were submitted before the concerned trial courts.
The court, granting further time, directed the IG of Sindh and the secretary of law to submit a detailed report on the steps they had taken for submission of final challans of un-disposed FIRs.
ARSON SUSPECTS REMANDED: The administrative judge of anti-terrorism courts in Karachi remanded four suspects facing arson charges in police custody till August 16.
Raza Khan, Naeem Khan, Mir Kalam and Fareed Khan were arrested by the F. B. Industrial Area police on August 5.
