SHC throws outFaisal Mota’s plea in weapons recovery case

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday dismissed a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activist’s plea against insertion of sections of the anti-terrorism law in the Nine Zero weapons recovery and raid case.

Faisal Mehmood, alias Mota, had filed an application in the high court against the insertion of anti-terrorism sections by the police in the weapons recovery case. The applicant’s counsel said that the police had registered an anti-terrorism case against the applicant and others following a raid at the MQM headquarters, namely Nine Zero, and the party’s offices on March 11, 2015, which had resulted in the recovery of illegal weapons and explosive substances.

He said that the case did not fall under the anti-terrorism law and requested that the high court transfer the trial to a sessions court. The Sindh Rangers’ prosecutor said that the illegal weapons and explosive substances recovered from the MQM head office were used in terrorism activities, and that an anti-terrorism court was conducting a trial against the culprits involved in the case.

He requested that the high court dismiss the application, as four witnesses had been examined by the trial court and the application was not maintainable. After hearing the arguments of the counsel, the SHC dismissed the application as not maintainable and directed the trial court to conclude the trial proceedings within a month.