SHC bars police from summoning heirs of missing persons to police stations

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court directed the police on Friday not to summon the family members of missing persons at police stations and instead visit their homes to record their statements.

While hearing the petition of missing person Mohammad Ali, the court observed that families of the missing persons were already disturbed due to disappearance of their loved ones and calling them at police stations for recording statements would further add to their miseries.

The petitioner's counsel submitted that petitioners were women and there was no male member in their family except the missing person and investigation officer was calling them for recording their statement. The court directed the provincial law officer to issue instruction from Home Department to record the petitioner's statement in the missing person case.

Earlier, the Sindh High Court directed Mohsin Baig's counsel and the Federal Investigation Agency to come prepared to argue money laundering and bribing of the FIA’s official case. Petitioner Mohsin Baig submitted in the petition that he was being politically victimized at the behest of federal minister of communication over his reported remarks in media.

Petitioner's counsel Abdul Lateef Khosa submitted that FIA booked the petitioner with malafide intent in a case of money laundering and bribing FIA officials without issuing any notices to the petitioner. He submitted that the petitioner was neither public servant nor he has any connection with money laundering case against Abdul Wasay and others and he was implicated in the case merely for exposing the illegalities of the FIA officials.

The counsel submitted that the bank accounts of the petitioner have been frozen due to the investigation and he was not been able to run business. He said that he will file proper application to seek relief in respect of freezing of accounts, but sought quashment of criminal proceedings in money laundering and bribery case.

The Deputy attorney general filed a statement along with bunch of documents and submitted that the documents were prima facie evidence against the petitioner. The SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro directed the petitioner's counsel and federal law officer to come prepared to argue the case on April 22.