Rao Anwar’s house declared sub-jail in line with law, SHC told

The home department’s notification declaring suspended District Malir SSP Rao Anwar’s house a sub-jail was issued in accordance with the criminal procedure and prisons rules, the Sindh High Court (SHC) was informed by a provincial law officer on Monday.

Anwar is the key accused in the murder case of aspiring model Naseemullah, alias Naqeeb Mehsud. The suspended SSP and his subordinates are being tried by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) for killing Mehsud and three other men during a fake police encounter in Shah Latif Town on January 13.

During Monday’s hearing of a petition challenging the home department’s notification, Additional Advocate General Mustafa Mahesar filed affidavits on behalf of the Sindh prisons IG and the Central Jail Karachi superintendent regarding Anwar’s confinement in the central prison.

Mahesar said the home department had declared the house of the accused a sub-jail considering the threats to his life, adding that his confinement in prison could be risky from the viewpoint of security, as the central prison already had 4,800 inmates.

He said the home department’s notification is legal, as the government has the authority to declare a sub-jail for any prisoner in line with the criminal procedure and prisons rules.

According to the prisons IG and the central jail superintendent, Anwar has remained confined in the sub-jail from April 21 to date, and the home department’s notification has been complied with accordingly.

The SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Khadim Hussain M Sheikh adjourned the matter until July 12, as the counsel of the accused is engaged in the Supreme Court in Islamabad and an application for adjournment was submitted on his behalf.

The petitioner’s counsel, however, argued that the matter should be heard on an urgent basis because the respondents have been delaying the issue by not appearing in court.

The suspended cop was arrested on the SC’s orders on March 21. After the duration of his remand ended, the administrative judge of the ATCs on April 21 directed that he be sent to prison.

On June 9 he was granted B-class prison facilities by the ATC, which said he deserved to be granted B-class facilities as an under-trial prisoner. On the application opposing the declaration of his residence as a sub-jail, the judge said an order will be issued after a similar appeal filed in the SHC is disposed of.

It is Mehsud’s father Muhammad Khan who had challenged Anwar’s house being declared a sub-jail. His application claimed that no such notification was issued by the home department, but Anwar was still being provided with such a facility without any legal basis.

The court said that since the matter was also pending in the high court, the trial court could not issue any order on the subject until the plea was disposed of.

On June 8 the high court had directed the home secretary to file comments on Khan’s petition. Earlier, the advocate general, the home department and others were also issued the same order on the matter.

According to the petitioner’s counsel, Faisal Siddiqui, despite the order of the trial court to shift the main accused to prison, the home department issued a notification declaring his house a sub-jail, which was in violation of the trial court’s orders.

Siddiqui said the home department issued the impugned notification with mala fide intention, as Anwar was the only under-trial prisoner of an ATC in Sindh whose own house had been declared a sub-jail, adding that such favouritism was against the jail’s rules and criminal procedure.

He said the impugned notification failed to disclose any credible information regarding serious threats to Anwar’s life. He asked that if the suspended cop was facing a serious threat, why had he not been detained at a high-security detention centre or why had his security not been increased in jail like other high-profile prisoners.

He also said Anwar’s detention in the comfort of his own home declared as a sub-jail was simply a continuation of the VVIP treatment being accorded to him.

The counsel said there is clear evidence that Anwar is a thoroughly corrupt police officer, who has acquired assets beyond his known means and has engaged in money laundering, adding that a relevant complaint has been sent to the National Accountability Bureau.

He said that in view of Anwar’s involvement in the terrorism case, he has been suspended from his post and he cannot be given any kind of concession under the law.

He also said Anwar’s criminal character is obvious from the fact that he defied the court’s orders, and according to a police report, he and his subordinates have been accused of carrying out 444 encounter killings over the past seven years.

In the complaint, Mehsud’s father said Anwar’s salary as an SSP was Rs113,772, but despite that, he has travelled to Dubai 74 times since 2012.

“It is incomprehensible for an officer with a maximum salary of Rs113,772 to be able to afford as many trips. It is clear that the aforementioned trips have been financed through assets acquired beyond his means and in order to launder money.”

Siddiqui requested that the high court declare illegal the impugned notification of the home department with regard to Anwar’s confinement at his own house by declaring it a sub-jail.