By By Jamal Khurshid
The Sindh High Court (SHC) directed the provincial law officer to argue the legal status of Crime Investigation Department (CID) and verify whether the department is autonomous or works under the police and the home department.
The court was hearing a petition questioning the registration of a cybercrime case by the CID. Petitioner Naureen Zaheer submitted that her husband, Abdul Zaheer, has been wrongfully detained since September last year by the CID on the directives of authorities from a local bank.
The petitioner’s counsel, Sohail Hameed, submitted that Abdul Zaheer had been working at the bank for the past several years. His employers had conducted an inquiry against him last year, but had been unable to prove allegations regarding financial irregularities which were leveled against him.
He said that the CID authorities raided the petitioner’s house on September 9 last year, and arrested Abdul Zaheer. He has since been unlawfully detained by the CID and is being compelled to transfer his residential property in favour of his employers. Later, a cybercrime case was registered against him by the CID.
The counsel referred to the judgment of the Supreme Court, and contended that the provision of the law does not authorise the CIA or special investigating force personnel to register cases for a cognisable offence; they are only required to submit the charge-sheet before the trial court. Hameed submitted that Section 156 (1) of CrPC authorises an officer in charge of the police station concerned to register cases, adding that the registration of an FIR by the CID is unlawful. He requested the court to declare the act of CID regarding the registration of an FIR as unlawful and quash the criminal proceedings against his client.
Assistant Advocate General Adnan Karim submitted that the CID has the power to register FIRs and investigate cases under the Police Order. The SHC’s division bench, headed by Justice Mushir Alam, adjourned the matter and directed the provincial law officer to argue over the legal status of CID and apprise the court whether the CID had an independent existence or if it worked under the police or the home department.
Charge sheet submitted: The administrative judge (AJ) of the anti-terrorism courts (ATC) in Karachi accepted the charge-sheet against two suspects from the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in a case pertaining to murder, attempt-to-murder and attempt to destroy oil installations, and sent case to the ATC-I for trial.
Akhtar Zaman and Saimullah were arrested from Sohrab goth, and booked for planning to destroy oil installations in Keamari.
The police said that the suspects had disclosed during the investigation that on the directives of TTP leaders in Waziristan, they planned to destroy oil installations in Keamari on September 14, but failed to do so. The police further said that the suspects, along with other absconding co-accused Yameen Shah, Syed Noor and Naseebullah, shot at security guards present at the terminal; one guard was killed and another was injured. The suspects had managed to flee soon after the arrival of the police. They were arrested later from Sohrab Goth.
The investigation officer submitted the charge-sheet, and said that the police had sufficient evidence to prove the case against the suspects. AJ Justice Maqbool Baqar accepted the charge-sheet and sent the case to the ATC-I for trial.