The constitutional petition no. D-2417/2008, regarding illegal taking of hostages – eight women and four children – by the police of four districts of Sindh province, was heard by the single bench of Sindh high court today. The chief justice of the Sindh high court was sick and unable to attend therefore the case was heard by Mr. Justice Ather Saeed.
Earlier the chief justice Mr. Anwer Zaheer Jamali summoned the District Police Officers (DPOs) of Hyderabad and Tando Allahyar but today all of them were absent and police was represented by one Mr. Ghulam Qadir, Sub Inspector of Tando Allahyar, a junior police officer, who denied the charges of illegal detention. The honourable judge asked the sub-inspector as to why all the newspapers and the Asian Human Rights commission were claiming that the women and children were made hostage. The sub-inspector was unable to respond in any sensible fashion.
The honourable justice Mr. Ather Saeed, after hearing arguments from both the sides, ordered the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Hyderabad to appear before the courts with comments on the Asian Human Rights Commission¡¦s application, on January 15, 2009. The court also ordered the advocate on behalf of AHRC to make a constitutional petition on the basis of facts provided in the AHRC¡¦S application of Sou Moto dated December 10. The court observed that all the details of the confiscated items and animals of the victims should be provided to court and asked to police to provide details of one Mr. Mir Mohammad Khokhar of the village, Khair Bux Khokhar, who remains in illegal detention by the police, as reported by the victims, for the production of one suspected dacoit.
Mr. Asikue Raza Advocate, representative of the AHRC, told the single bench court that the situation of the country is still like Martial Law and nothing has changed after the formation of civilian governments. This, he said is due to the fact that the police are not following the rule of law and behaving in the same manner as in the days of the military governments. Mr. Ghulam Qadir, sub-inspector of police, denied that there is martial law in the government and police are trying to follow the civilian rule.
