SC orders drive to recover arms, arrest absconders in Karachi

KARACHI: The Supreme Court of Pakistan, while hearing the Karachi law and order suo moto case, ordered to arrest 33,000 absconders present in Karachi, Geo News reported Friday.

A five-judge bench of the apex court headed by the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is hearing the case at its Karachi Registry today.

During today’s proceedings, prosecutor general Sindh presented a report on Karachi situation before the bench. According to the statistics presented in the report, there are over 110,000 absconders in Sindh out of which 33,665 are in Karachi. Moreover, there are pending cases of 1,486 absconders in the anti-terrorism court.

Justice Khilji remarked how citizens can remain safe in a city when there are 33,000 absconders present.

On the occasion, the CJ inquired about the absconders who took advantage of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). The prosecutor general Sindh told the bench that there are total 12,734 accused who availed the NRO.

The CJ then asked about the accused who were freed during 2008-2013 as their cases were disposed of as A-class. Replying to this, the prosecutor general told that there were total 17,961 cases that were disposed of as A-class.

CJ Iftikhar then remarked that in the presence of so many absconders in his area, no SHO could remain eligible. He said that it is only the absconders who are spoiling peace in the city.

Justice Jawwad remarked that releasing the accused involved in serious crimes on parole is equivalent to give them the license to commit more crimes. He said that crime rate in Karachi is 66% as compared to the crime rate in other cities which is 34 %.

The apex court has also sealed the Rangers’ report pertaining to extortionists and target killers in Karachi.

CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry appreciated the performance of the law enforcement agencies during the last 15 days, and instructed to continue targeted operations in Karachi.

The CJ said that he had read the report regarding the murder of Geo News correspondent Wali Khan Babar and it seemed as if the entire team was involved. The CJ further said that cases should be heard on daily basis and disposed of as soon as possible.

The SC also directed that a campaign be initiated in a day or two to recover the illegal arms in the port city. The court said that legislation should be done to issue licenses and said that a session judge can be appointed in the absence of district magistrate.

The court also instructed to inform the masses about the campaign by advertising in newspapers, as there is less time and that the accused should not be given a chance to strengthen themselves.