SHC issues notices to prisons IG, others on FCS ex-chairman’s plea

The Sindh High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the advocate general and the inspector general of prisons in the province, among others, on a petition seeking the registration of a case against the prisons chief and his subordinate staff for allegedly misusing authority, as well as an order for the restoration of medical facilities to Fishermen Cooperative Society’s former chairman Nisar Morai.

Morai has been incarcerated in illegal appointments, embezzlement of funds and other corruption references. Petitioner Dr Seema Nisar Morai submitted that her spouse was facing trial before an accountability court pertaining to illegal appointments, embezzlement of funds and other corruption references, and had been in the Landhi prison for the last two years.

She submitted that her spouse had complained to the minster of prisons during his visit on July 26 about malpractice by the prison staff and the demanding of bribes from their relatives in the name of the prisons IG. She submitted that after her spouse complained to the minister, the jail authorities became annoyed and they subjected him to severe torture and shifted him to the central prison.

The petitioner’s counsel Khawaja Naveed Ahmed submitted that the life of the petitioner was in danger as he was not being provided medical facilities by the prisons authorities.

The court was requested to take action against the jail authorities and order the registration of a case against IG Prisons Nusrat Mangan and his associates for taking the law into their own hands and misusing state power for their personal grudge.

He requested the court to direct the jail authorities to restore medical facilities to the petitioner’s spouse as per the jail manual and order the transfer of the IG prisons, who had been holding the post for the last 10 years.

A division bench headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, after the preliminary hearing of the petition, issued notices to the respondents and called their comments on August 15. Morai and other former officials of the FCS were charged with illegally appointing 400 employees in the FCS during the period between 2014 and July 2017, giving illegal contracts for construction and embezzlement in trash fish sale without an auction, causing a loss of Rs343.796 million to the national exchequer.

Plea dismissed

The Sindh High Court dismissed a petition filed by a brother of Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani for permission to travel abroad for performing Hajj pilgrimage.

Petitioner Agha Mashiuddin submitted in the petition that he was facing trial before an accountability court along with the speaker of the Sindh Assembly with regard to the alleged accumulation of wealth beyond known sources of income.

He submitted that he wanted to travel to Saudi Arabia for performing Hajj and sought an injunction to remove his name from the ECL. The court after hearing the application observed that the reference had been filed before the accountability court, and directed the petitioner to approach the trial court for the granting of such permission.