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Friday March 29, 2024

CAA told to provide alternative solution to ASF if explosive detector not good

By Jamal Khurshid
December 26, 2019

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to make necessary arrangements for obtaining equipment or technology for the Airports Security Force if the explosive detector currently in use at the airports, Khoji, is required to be revamped to improve the safety and security measures at airports, aerodromes, aircrafts, and civil aviation installations and parking areas.

The direction came on a petition of the Public Interest Law Association of Pakistan which had questioned the manufacturing and use of bomb detector Khoji that was licensed and manufactured by the ASF. The petitioner also sought a restraining order against the CAA and ASF from licensing, manufacturing and using Khoji, alleging that the bomb detector was being manufactured by adopting a bogus British-based company’s technology that was banned by the British government in 2010.

The 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 the explosive detectors that looked like magic wands at the cost of Rs70,000 per device in 2009. He submitted that the wands were being sold under the name of Khoji, which means detective in Urdu, and then used by security personnel at airports and government installations.

The high court was also informed that the explosive detectors had also been widely sold to the private sector and it was being used at shopping malls, hotels and fast-food chains all over Sindh.

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

He submitted that no official answer or statement had come forward from the ASF against the controversy of allegedly making and using fake bomb detectors and no audit had been forthcoming which could help estimate how much public money was being wasted on manufacturing the bogus detectors.

The counsel asked the SHC to hold the ASF accountable for their negligent actions. He submitted that the CAA and ASF had failed to act in the larger public interest and were using fake bomb detectors which was sheer infringement of fundamental rights of citizens of Pakistan enshrined in the constitution.

The federal government, CAA and ASF’s counsel submitted that neither had the ASF procured the explosive detector ADE-651 nor did it manufacture, use or sell it. They submitted that in 2008-2009, the ASF procured a sniffex explosive detector which was very costly, therefore, the security force with the help of its engineers developed its own explosive detector known as ‘Khoji’ which was being used at car parking gates for the scanning of vehicles.

They submitted that the detector was developed by army engineers as an alternate technology for the detection of explosives and arms, whereas the imported explosive detector sniffex was found less effective in the detection of explosives.

The SHC was informed that the performance of Khoji was well authenticated in the detection of arms/ammunition and explosives as the device had detected thousands of ammunition and hundreds of arms at the main entrances of different airports and in addition to that the armed forces and government law enforcement agencies were also using the device.

A federal law officer submitted that the petition had been filed merely on presumptions with baseless allegations as the banned explosive detector ADE-651 was never procured by the ASF.

A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar observed in its judgment that powers and duties of officers and members of the ASF were provided under the section 6 of the Airports Security Force Act 1975.

The high court observed that though the ASF was confident with regard to the performance of Khoji but it was the CAA that was responsible for the provision of equipment to the ASF, so if the court deemed it necessary to replace the device, the CAA may be directed to provide an alternative state-of-the-art device for explosives detection to the ASF in place of Khoji.

The SHC disposed of the petition, directing the ASF to maintain foolproof safety and security at all the airports, aerodromes, aircrafts and civil aviation installations and also safeguard civil aviation against acts of unlawful interference in accordance with the ASF Act.

The high court also directed the director generals of CAA and ASF to convene a high-profile meeting to revisit security measures at the airports in the larger public interest and in case any further endeavours/measures were required to modernise and revamp the present detector Khoji and some alternative or additional or any other advanced technology was required for improvising the safety at airports, aerodromes, aircrafts and civil aviation installations and parking areas, the CAA shall make necessary arrangements to obtain such equipment or technology for the ASF.