Sticking together: Lawyers demand SHO be booked for torturing colleague

HARIPUR: Scores of lawyers protested on Tuesday against the alleged manhandling of their colleague by an SHO last week and issued a three-day ultimatum to the administration to take legal action against the police officer.

Lawyers observed a strike throughout Hazara division, boycotting court proceedings in protest. The black coats took out a rally from Haripur district courts and marched on Shahrah-e-Hazara, carrying banners and placards. They blocked the bustling road for over two hours and staged a sit-in near the District Police Officer’s (DPO) office.

They condemned the alleged torture of their colleague Advocate Awais Sarwar by City SHO Sajid Farooq in police custody.

They said if their colleague had committed any wrongdoing the police should have taken legal action against him rather than subjecting him to severe physical and mental torture during detention.

Local leaders of the legal fraternity said they had opted for a peaceful resolution of the dispute and lodged a complaint against the SHO with the Haripur DPO and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) IGP, seeking an enquiry against the official and his transfer. However, they said, instead of acting on their complaint, the police, at the behest of the city’s big shots, motivated some of their agents to take out a procession in favour of the SHO a few days ago.

Members of the legal fraternity said since Sarwar’s medical report proved bone injuries on his neck and a ruptured eardrum, the administration must immediately register a criminal case against the SHO.

They added failure to do so would force them to protest indefinitely.

High Court Bar Association President Shad Muhammad Khan, Haripur Bar Association President Abdul Razaq Chughtai and Dr Hasnain Raza Turabi were among those who spoke on the occasion.

According to Sarwar, there was a complaint against him by his former in-laws who accused him of opening fire at their house after which Farooq picked him up from his home last week and tortured him at the police station. According to the victim, the thrashing left his neck bone fractured and eardrum ruptured. He accused the SHO of meting degrading and cruel treatment at the instigation of Sarwar’s political rivals and an influential personality of the city.

Meanwhile, lawyers in Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram and Kohistan also boycotted court proceedings on the call of the K-P Bar Council against the manhandling of their colleague and demanded legal action against the SHO.

(By Our Correspondent) Published in GNN & Tribune, May 21st, 2014.

CJP convenes judicial commission on May 28 to deliberate on 3 new judges for IHC

Three posts in the IHC were vacant. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jillani has summoned a meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on May 28 to deliberate over the appointment of three additional judges of Islamabad High Court, GNN learnt on Saturday.

Sources told Media that Islamabad High Court chief justice Muhammad Anwar Kasi has recommended the name of lawyer Athar Minallah for the post of IHC judge.

Minallah belongs to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and had served as the spokesperson for former Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhy during the lawyers’ movement.

According to the IHC Act 2010, the capital’s high court comprises of one chief justice and six judges who would be appointed from all provinces and FATA.

After the retirement of Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan last week, the post of a judge elevated from K-P was lying vacant. IHC CJ has thus proposed the name of Minallah for the slot.

The sources further said that the IHC CJ had proposed four further names for posts of Islamabad and Balochistan based judge. For this purpose, Justice Kasi has proposed the names of Mian Abdul Rauf and Anees Jillani for a seat in the high court for Islamabad.  The names of Sher Shah Kasi and Tahir Shah have been proposed for the post of IHC judge from Balochistan.

A sub-committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Rahmat Hussain Jaferi will meet on May 27 to shortlist two names from the four nominees.

Earlier, CJP had summoned a meeting of the JCP on April 10 to review the appointments in the IHC. Later, a JCP sub-committee, which was due to shortlist names, was postponed.

The strength of the Islamabad High Court has been reduced to three judges after the retirement of senior-most judge Justice Riaz Ahmad Khan last week.

The capital’s high court should have seven serving judges, but due to shortage of judges, and a backlog of over 13,000 cases, was causing problems to litigants.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court Bar Association President Mohsin Kayani has warned of protests if the names of the capital’s lawyers as IHC judges were not considered.

Kayani, while talking to Media, lamented that since the re-establishment of the court in 2010, no judge had been appointed from the cadre of Islamabad based lawyers.

Waziristan violence: TTP infighting leaves a dozen dead

Clashes between factions led by Shehryar Mehsud and Khan Said ongoing in Shawal tehsil. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

MIRAMSHAH: At least a dozen militants of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were killed in bloody infighting on the confluence of North and South Waziristan agencies on Tuesday. The fighting between the Shehryar Mehsud-led Hakimullah group and Waliur Rahman group of Khan Said, alias Sajna, erupted in the mountainous Shawal tehsil, a security official said. “Fighters from the two sides are using heavy weapons against each other,” the official said, adding that frightened tribesmen have shut themselves up in their houses as the area is reverberating with gunfire and rocket explosions.

According to independent sources, seven members of the Hakimullah group and five of Waliur Rahman group have been killed so far while the clashes are ongoing.

Sources said that local tribal elders have swung into action to broker a ceasefire between the two factions. “However, they also came under fire multiple times.”

The fighting first started in the first week of April in South Waziristan and within no time spread to North Waziristan and Tank district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Several fighters from both sides were killed before leaders from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan brokered a ceasefire between them.

The cessation of hostilities, however, didn’t last long. Around a week ago, senior commander of Waliur Rahman group, Amir Hamza, along with six colleagues was killed in a roadside blast which was blamed on the Hakimullah group.

Four days ago the deputy chief of Hakimullah group was shot dead by gunmen in Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan Agency. Waliur Rahman group was blamed for the killing and fighting broke out between the two factions.

Motorcycle bombing
Earlier in the day, two TTP members were killed and as many injured in a bomb attack in Miramshah.

The bomb was strapped to a motorcycle belonging to some TTP members who lived in Zafar Town near Miramshah Bazaar, an official of the political administration said. When one of them started the motorcycle around 7:00am the bomb went off, killing two militants on the spot and injuring another two, the official added.

After the explosion, TTP members rushed to the spot and shifted the casualties to an undisclosed location.

The dead and the injured militants belong to Swat and Orakzai Agency, the official said, adding that the target was the TTP commander for Peshawar district who remained unhurt in the incident.

Khyber Agency attack
Separately, two members of a pro-government militia were killed and another was wounded in a roadside bomb explosion in Landi Kotal tehsil of Khyber Agency on Tuesday.

Three members of Touheedul Islam militia were travelling to Bazaar Zakha Khel when a roadside bomb was remotely detonated by suspected militants near their car in the Mastak area, an official of the local political administration said. As a result, two TI members were killed and the third was wounded.

Officials of Khasadar, the local tribal police force, shifted the casualties to the Agency Headquarters Hospital Landi Kotal where medics referred the injured to a hospital in Peshawar for treatment of his critical wounds. The vehicle was destroyed in the blast.

Published in GNN & Tribune, May 7th, 2014. (By Our Correspondent)

Keep calm and...: PPP workers brawl during leader’s death anniversary

The situation reportedly spun out of control when some of the workers did not allow the party’s provincial president Khanzada Khan to deliver a speech on stage in Zubair Mir Hall. PHOTO: EXPRESS

PESHAWAR: With widening rifts in the top provincial leadership of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), its workers resorted to fighting and hurled chairs at each other during a ceremony to mark the seventh death anniversary of Syed Qamar Abbas at Peshawar Press Club (PPC) on Tuesday.

The situation reportedly spun out of control when some of the workers did not allow the party’s provincial president Khanzada Khan to deliver a speech on stage in Zubair Mir Hall.

Provincial Media Coordinator and Spokesperson for PPP President, Faheem Khattak told The Media that they will apprise the central leadership of the party, including former president Asif Ali Zardari and patron-in-chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and ascertain the people involved in the incident.

“Activists of Peoples Student Federation were sent by former PPP women’s wing chairperson Asma Alamgir to sabotage the ceremony,” alleged Khattak.

He said footage of everything that happened on the press club premises is available and it is clear that the miscreants were not party activists, but were hired to create the clash. Khattak explained that Asif Zardari dissolved the party’s provincial and district organisations on April 29, after which Asma Alamgir raised grievances because the move was not acceptable to her.

When contacted, Alamgir vehemently denied all allegations, saying PPP is a democratic party and all leaders should give democratic statements. She added that a ‘conspiracy group’ has hijacked the party in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), because of which rifts have surfaced and resulted in such unfortunate developments.

“The viewpoints of PPP workers will have to be taken into consideration; that is the key to strengthening the party,” said Alamgir, appreciating the services of leaders like Qamar Abbas – former provincial minister and senior vice-president of PPP who was shot dead in 2007. She added that the grim situation has spelled a wave of frustration amongst workers.

Later, PPC’s cabinet held an emergency meeting with the club president Nasir Hussain in the chair, which condemned PPP for the scuffle.

While talking to the media, PPC General Secretary Fida Adeel said all activities of PPP have been banned in the press club, along with a ban on their entrance. Adeel added that they have footage of the clash and will take legal action against all those involved. Giving details of the loss, he said 20 chairs, four tables and a sound system in the hall were damaged.

“Journalists and employees of the press club were manhandled by PPP workers who warned them to not run the footage,” Adeel added.

On the other hand, former PPP president Anwar Saifullah Khan in a statement on Sunday lauded the party central leadership’s decision of dissolving the current provincial and district organisations, saying that new leadership would come to the forefront through the decision of an intra-party election.

Saifullah attributed the party’s prevailing issues to some office bearers who have long lost interest in PPP’s affairs. He added that the poor performance in last year’s general elections was also due to the many rifts that have surfaced within the party.

“Party workers on whom others can fully rely on should come to the front and unify PPP’s K-P organisation,” said Saifullah. He added that intra-party elections are not new for PPP workers and have been held since Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s time.

Published in GNN & Tribune, May 7th, 2014. (By Baseer Qalandar)

Enforced disappearances: PHC issues show-cause notice to home secretary

The bench was informed that Shamsher Ali Khan (missing person) was picked up from Swat around five years ago, while his sons Muhammad Ayaz and Muhammad Riaz are also missing. PHOTO: PPI

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday issued a show-cause notice to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Home and Tribal Affairs department secretary for not complying with court orders in missing persons’ cases.

The notice was issued by a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Ikramullah Khan, while hearing 12 petitions of enforced disappearances. Deputy Attorney General Kifayatullah and Additional Advocate General Rab Nawaz were representing the federal and provincial governments, respectively, while Major Muhammad Ali appeared on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

The bench was informed that Shamsher Ali Khan was allegedly picked up from Swat around five years ago, while his sons Muhammad Ayaz and Muhammad Riaz are also missing.

Justice Mazhar Alam expressed displeasure with the government for not letting the family of those missing know about their whereabouts. He reiterated if any missing person is involved in anti-state activities they should be prosecuted and punished according to the law.

The bench then directed Major Muhammad Ali and the representative of the Ministry of Interior to inform the high-ups to at least tell families about their missing relatives, adding these cases need to be expedited.

The bench told the deputy attorney general those officials who submit a reply to these petitions should also provide affidavits. The court then gave a ‘last’ chance to the government’s representatives who were present at court to submit their replies.

In one of the cases, the court was told Latifullah was allegedly picked up from the jurisdiction of Badhaber police station on December 14, 2009 and the family of the missing person accused the relevant station house office of being responsible. SHO Haji Granullah, however, told the court he was not posted at the time and Riaz Khan, who was posted at the police station, was later martyred in a bomb blast.

The court then directed the incumbent SHO to check the records of the concerned police station, former SHO and then submit a reply. Some cases from other districts were sent to the relevant bench of the PHC so that families could easily attend the hearings.

Published in GNN & Tribune & Our Correspondent, May 7th, 2014.