SHC tells landlords, their Chinese tenants to submit undertaking if they want no police protection

The Sindh High Court on Thursday ordered that Pakistani land owners and their Chinese tenants who do not need police protection as per SOPs should submit undertaking that they will arrange the requisite security themselves and such undertaking be forwarded to the relevant embassy and consulate.

The direction came on a petition of Akbar Sohail and others, who moved the court against harassment by the police in respect of security. The petitioners submitted that they were residing in the DHA area and Chinese nationals were their tenants.

The petitioners’ counsel submitted that police had visited their residents and asked them to allow them to provide access to them at the house which they denied as it would be breach of personal privacy. He submitted that police officers also threatened them with legal proceedings in case of non-cooperation.

Darakshan SDPO Manisah Ropeta filed standard operating procedure for foreigners working on non-CPEC projects. She submitted that the petitioner was approached for providing security to their Chinese tenants as per SOPs; however, the petitioner was reluctant to cooperate with the police.

One petitioner’s counsel submitted that the petitioner cannot give inside access to the police as it will breach their privacy. A division bench headed by Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput, after hearing the arguments of the counsel, directed the police to act as per the SOP and in case the petitioners and the Chinese tenants do not need protection from law enforcement agencies they will submit an undertaking to the police that they will arrange the requisite security themselves.

The court ordered that such an undertaking be forwarded to the embassy and consulate of foreigners. Missing person: The court directed police to submit phone record of a cellular phone company, which was used in alleged disappearance of a businessman case.

Petitioner Iqra Fawad submitted that her spouse Fawad Muqeet Khan had been missing since November 11, 2024 and his whereabouts are still unknown. A police officer submitted that he had written a letter to Punjab police to provide details of a person whose mobile phone was used with regard to disappearance of the petitioner’s spouse and the reply is awaited.