Aug 26, 2011

Sindh: Reports of Targetted Killings Not Submitted in Supreme Court


ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on Friday urged the attorney general and advocate general of Sindh to submit a report with details of target killings in Karachi.

Below is an article published by The Express Tribune

 This statement was made to a five-judge Supreme Court bench during the hearing of the proceedings of the suo motu case on Karachi violence.

The CJ said that a report should be submitted containing details of the bodies found in gunny bags which were beheaded and tortured. He also said that the report should provide details of the areas where the bodies were recovered.

The Supreme Court had taken suo motu notice of the escalating violence in Karachi on Wednesday. The attorney-general was issued a notice to appear and submit a comprehensive report on incidents of violence in Karachi. However, the report was not submitted in court today.

The CJ observed that the AG should have consulted the ISI, military intelligence and Intelligence Bureau for getting a complete picture on Karachi.

The Sindh advocate general told the court that they had recently exonerated an accused who had confessed to killing 100 people.

In reply to this, Justice Ghulam Rabbani observed that instead of blaming the court, the government should have arrested the accused when he committed the first murder.

The counsel of Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Abdul Hafiz Pirzada, told the court that calling the army into Karachi would not control violence.

“Warlords rule Karachi, which today faces a complex problem with multiple dimensions,” Mr Pirzada informed the court.

“God help us,” the CJ observed while expressing shock over the presence of warlords.

The chief justice said Karachi, the locus of business activity, should not be allowed to descend into further chaos.

The counsel of the federal government, Babar Awan, said warlords had also taken Swat hostage but the government had defeated them. He said the CJP should not make statements which could be misconstrued.

The case has been adjourned till Monday, and the judges bench has been shifted to Karachi.