KARACHI - Chief Justice of Sindh High Court (SHC) Ahmed Ali Sheikh has taken notice of unusual punishments awarded by Karachi’s session courts.

The high court has asked for a detailed report from the district sessions courts and has also ordered the Karachi courts to produce records of such awards.

In one case of awarding unusual punishment, Additional District and Sessions Judge Haleem Ahmed had sentenced a man convicted of possessing an illegal weapon to three years of daily congregational prayers.

In another instance, a judicial magistrate in the metropolis had handed down punishment to a man for hitting a cop with his motorcycle – standing at a traffic signal for two hours, once a week for a whole year holding a placard on speed awareness. Perturbed at these strange punishments that don’t comply with the law, the SHC CJ said these awards were violating basic human rights and were defaming the judiciary.