Karachi
The Sindh High Court on Wednesday directed the home and education secretaries to file reports on measures adopted for protection at educational institutions.
The direction came on a petition filed by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education Research and others, seeking effective security and protection of the educational institutions in the province. The petitioners submitted that after the Peshawar tragedy, educational institutions across the country were under threat of similar attacks.
They stated that as per intelligence reports published, welfare schools run by communities in Karachi were at high risk, while some private institutions and schools have also complained of receiving threats. The petitioners said the Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the Islamabad Capital Territory had formulated standard operating procedures and directed the school administrations to adopt measures, including raising boundary walls, installing barbed wires and CCTV cameras, etc. However, they said, nothing had been done to promulgate such SOP in Sindh, where the authorities had put the responsibility of institutions’ protection either on the school management or the parents.
They submitted the Sindh government spent Rs 220 million every month on the security of 600 VIPs, including ministers and foreigners, but no concrete efforts were being made for security of schools and colleges.
The petitioners said over 1,675 police personnel were deployed at the VIP Zone whereas there was only one security personnel for every 6,000 citizen of the city estimated to have a population over 18 million.
The court was asked to direct the government to provide foolproof security to the institutions and declare that VIP security without reasonable classification was discriminatory and unlawful.
The court, on the previous hearing, had directed the chief secretary and the home and education secretaries to submit a report on the measures taken for the
protection of institutions and the deployment of security personnel on such institutions.
The division bench, headed by Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar, took exception over non-filing of reports by the education and home secretaries in compliance of the court orders as provincial law officer requested for time to file reports.
The court directed the secretaries to file the reports within one week warning that in case of non-compliance of the court’s direction, appropriate order shall be passed against the delinquent officers. The court also directed the two secretaries to appear on January 28.
Detention case
The court has issued notices to federal and provincial law officers, IG Sindh, Rangers and others on a petition against illegal detention of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board’s employee by the personnel of law enforcement agencies.
Fahad had submitted his father Nadeem Khan, a KWSB employee, was picked up by the LAEs personnel on January 19 from Korangi and his whereabouts were unknown.
He stated the police were not disclosing the charges under which he was kept in custody and sought his father’s release.
The division bench, headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, directed the federal and provincial law officers and other respondents to file comments by January 28.