Karachi violence: No request sent for special courts, says SC

Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has not yet received any request from the government for the setting up of special courts as was claimed by the interior minister on September 3.

The interior minister, whose credibility is now being seriously questioned in public from within the PPP too, had told a press conference on Saturday last that a letter had been written to the chief justice of Pakistan for the setting up of special courts to get speedy justice. The SC, however, did not receive any such letter.

Additional Registrar Sajid Mehmood Qazi confirmed to The News on Wednesday that the Supreme Court of Pakistan has not yet received any such request from the government. Qazi said any such letter had not yet been delivered to the apex court either at its Islamabad office or in the Karachi Registry where the honourable Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and four other respected judges of the Supreme Court are hearing the suo moto case on Karachi killings.

Addressing a press conference after two high-level meetings held at the Chief Minister House, Rehman Malik had stated: "A letter has been written to the chief justice of Pakistan for the establishment of special courts to get speedy justice."

Malik has been dubbed a compulsive liar by Zulfikar Mirza in his recent press conferences. The interior minister was also held responsible for Karachi killings. Lashkari Raisani, a senior PPP leader from Balochistan, said he plays a suspected role in resolving the Balochistan situation.

Malik, however, declared Mirza as his younger brother and did not opt to speak about Raisani. He is reported to have asked the prime minister to set up a commission to inquire into the charges levelled against him by Mirza.

In his September 5 press conference, the interior minister had pledged that terrorists would be eliminated but to Malik's bad luck no person less than the honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan Tuesday observed that the joint investigation reports on target killers specifically mentioned activities against the country but the government has not taken any action against them so far.

It is interesting to note that while the interior minister in a press conference had claimed to have written a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan for the setting up of special court, six anti-terrorism courts in Sindh are without presiding officers.

Instead it was the Supreme Court of Pakistan that on Tuesday directed the Sindh government to expedite the appointment of presiding officers in anti-terrorism courts in the province and submit the notification of the appointments within two days. These anti-terrorism courts were created for speedy trial of cases that fall within the jurisdiction of anti-terrorism law.

Following the Supreme Court's direction, the Sindh government on Wednesday finally made the required appointments.

Apparently the interior minister while talking of approaching the CJP for the setting up of special court was ignorant of the fact that six anti-terrorism courts in the province were without judges because of the inefficiency of the government.

Sindh Bar Council Vice Chairman Iftikhar Javed Qazi, Karachi Bar Association President Mohammad Aqil and Secretary Haider Imam Rizvi, had informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the anti terrorism courts were not holding proceedings. It was also noted that posts of presiding officers are vacant in about six courts despite the fact that three successive chief justices of the Sindh High Court (SHC) have made recommendations to the provincial government to fill these positions.

Former CJ SHC and presently member of the five-member Supreme Court Bench, hearing the Karachi target killing case, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany observed during the hearing of the case on Tuesday that the appointments of ATC judges were not being made despite vacancies in these special courts since January this year.

The inefficiency and incompetence of the Sindh government and the Federal Interior Ministry was further exposed by the SHC Registrar, who confirmed before the apex court that despite recommendations made by the SHC chief justice and the exercise pointed out by the two previous chief justices of the SHC no progress was made.

The Sindh High Court had recommended the names of honest and experienced district and sessions judges for their appointment as presiding officers of the ATCs but the appointments were not made.