CAA told to file comments on plea against manufacturing of explosives detectors

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to file comments on a petition against manufacturing and use of bomb detectors using bogus technology of a Britain-based company, which even the British government banned in 2010.

The petitioner, the Public Interest Law Association of Pakistan, questioned the manufacturing and use of bomb detector devices, named Khoji, which are being licensed and manufactured by the Airports Security Force (ASF). The petitioner claimed the Khoji was based on the similar junk science used by a Britain-based company for its ADE-651 bomb detectors in early 2000s, which were later banned by the British government due to bogus technology.

Petitioner’s counsel Abdul Moiz Jaffery submitted that once the British government had banned the export of the ADE-651, the ASF took over the making and selling of these devices, which looked like magic wands, at a cost

of Rs70,000 per device in 2009.

He submitted that these wands were sold under the name of Khoji (finder) and used by security personnel deployed at the airports and government installations.

The SHC was informed that Khoji had also been widely sold to the private sector and were being used at shopping malls, hotels and fast-food chains all over Sindh.

The lawyer submitted that although the manufacturers claimed that Khoji had an accuracy level of 90 per cent and it could detect explosives from the distance of up to 100 metres, the device was rather based on the principles of radiesthesia, or dowsing, which experts considered a junk science.

He informed the SHC that no official answer or statement had been issued by the ASF regarding the controversy and no audit had been forthcoming which could help ascertain how much public money was being wasted for the manufacturing of these bogus magic wands by the ASF.

The counsel submitted that the ASF should be held accountable for its negligent actions.

The SHC was requested to restrain the ASF from licensing, manufacturing and using Khoji bomb detectors modeled on the banned ADE-651 technology and declare the use and manufacturing of the detectors as illegal.

The lawyer requested the court to restrain the ministry of defence from issuing new contracts in relation to the manufacturing and licensing of Khoji.

A counsel for the CAA sought time to file comments on the petition. A division bench of the SHC, headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, directed the CAA counsel to file comments on the petition and adjourned the hearing till May 27.