SHC seeks details of cases involving Haleem Adil

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday directed the Central Jail Karachi superintendent to submit the details of pending cases against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh and the list of cases in which he was granted bail by trial courts. Hearing a petition against the arrest of the PTI leader in blind cases and his non-release despite bail, a division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto also directed trial courts to submit details of cases against Sheikh, and grant of bail or acquittal in cases.

The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the PTI leader was being arrested in one case after the other despite bail by trial courts. He submitted that the detainee was not being released by the jail authorities despite his bail in all pending FIRs.

The high court observed that in order to ascertain the actual position, the central prison superintendent should submit details of pending cases against Sheikh and those cases in which he was granted bail or was acquitted by the trial court.

The bench directed the jail authorities to submit a list of cases in which surety of bail had been furnished. It is pertinent to mention that another bench of the SHC had earlier took exception to frequent arrests of the former opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly and observed that such acts added credence to the PTI leader’s allegations that the Sindh police wanted to keep him behind the bars for as long as possible.

Missing persons

The SHC directed the federal and provincial law officers and others to submit progress reports with regard to recovery of missing persons who were alleged to have been picked up by personnel of law enforcement agencies.

The direction came on petitions seeking recovery of missing persons. The high court directed the secretaries of federal defence and interior ministries to collect reports from security agencies working under their control and submit progress reports.

The bench directed the heads of joint investigation teams and provincial task force to repeat their sessions for the recovery of missing persons Noor Zaman, Mohammad Hanif, Syed Azhar Ali Jaffery, Syed Khurrum Hussain Shah Bukhari and others to ascertain their whereabouts.

The SHC directed the East DSP to make efforts for the recovery of a missing five-year-old girl, Seema, and submit a progress report. The high court issued notices to the Sindh inspector general of police and others on a petition against disappearance of a boy in Hyderabad. The petitioner submitted that eight-year-old Zaheer Ali had gone missing from the Phuleli area Hyderabad.