ISLAMABAD Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has ordered the Sindh police to arrest the assassins of MQM MPA Manzar Imam by Wednesday (today).
A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar, had taken up the implementation of the October 6, 2011, judgment on the law and order situation and targeted killings in Karachi in which it had held that unimaginable brutalities in Karachi were the result of a war aimed at keeping socio-political control over the city.
During the hearing, the chief justice said the Sindh police was politicised, so the court had directed the provincial police to stay away from politics.
“We are still fully convinced that until police are depoliticized, it cannot curb crimes; if militant wings of political parties are not disbanded, normalcy cannot return to the economic hub of the country,” the court said.
“We are directing you to arrest the murderers of MPA Manzar Imam considering it your primary duty,” the chief justice asked Inspector General Sindh Police Fayyaz Leghari and Additional Secretary Waseem Ahmad who were also present in the courtroom during the proceedings.
The CJP questioned how Wasim Ahmad who had already served as DG FIA was appointed additional secretary Sindh in violation of the apex court’s judgment merely on the basis of ‘friendship.’ He said: “Now we will examine each and every case to see whether our judgment was ignored or implemented on the Karachi law and order.” The chief justice warned the officials to keep in mind that they were hearing a contempt petition that their judgment on Karachi law and order issue was not being implemented and they were very much sensitive on this issue. The court adjourned the case till February 6.
Ordering arrest of the killers of Manzar Imam, the CJP asserted if his assassins could not be arrested, no one else was to be captured. The Sindh chief secretary said a committee had been formed for the arrest of the MPA’s killers. The chief justice said he did not believe in committees. The CJP questioned how many bodies had been recovered from the city today. The police officials responded five bodies had been found by late previous night and three more recovered early Tuesday morning. Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said newspaper reports said Ajmal Pahari and Kamran Madhoori had been released. On this, the police officials said they were under pressure from the courts for the release of Pahari.
Advocate General Sindh Fateh Muhammad Malik said the Taliban factor was playing a part in spoiling the law and order situation in Karachi. He added the government had a list of 5,000 Taliban who had entered the city. The chief justice said Taliban were not something that the government could not control. During the hearing, the court asked the advocate general how Ajmal Pahari got freedom from the jail. He replied it was not the Sindh government but the Sindh High Court which released him.
The chief justice said the provincial government had actually failed to furnish evidence in the courts, providing a chance to criminals to manage release.
The court also sought details of Pahari’s case to determine who was actually responsible for his release.
How a common man could expect justice from this system in which police did not arrest culprits without the Supreme Court’s pressure, quoting the Shahzeb murder case. The court observed that only for two months normalcy could return to Karachi, but after that the government started violating the verdict and the situation started worsening there again. The hearing was adjourned till Wednesday (today).
Meanwhile, Maulvi Iqbal Haider also filed a petition in the Supreme Court over the release of Ajmal Pahari. He made the federal government and the army authorities parties. The petition prayed to the court to seek Pahari’s record from the authorities concerned and confirm whether he was still in judicial custody or not.