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| Jamal Khurshid Friday, February 08, 2013 From Print Edition |
KARACHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday took exception to the indifference of the federal government towards helping out the Sindh government in curbing lawlessness in Karachi and asked the federation’s counsel whether the Centre would take action when Karachi burns to ashes.
“Even a blind person can feel the internal disturbance in the city but the federal government’s law officer has stated that lawlessness in Karachi is a provincial matter and it has nothing to do with the federal government,” a four-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja observed while hearing the Karachi law and order suo moto implementation case at the Karachi Registry.
The court observed that the Constitution guaranteed protection to every citizen and if the government could not protect the life and liberty of its citizens then it would be better that the government amend the Constitution by removing Article 9 dealing with the protection of citizens by the state.
Resuming the hearing into the Karachi law and order suo moto implementation case, the court observed that its detailed judgment had declared that both the governments had failed to protect the fundamental rights of citizens and carrying out their function under Article 148 (3) of the Constitution. However, nothing was placed on the record by the federal government on what action had been taken to protect the provincial government that faced internal disturbance.
The deputy attorney general (DAG) submitted that he had no instructions from the federal government about the filing of a reply with regard to the court’s observation, as the instant matter had nothing to do with the federal government.
The court took notice of non-compliance of its directives by the federal law officer and observed that it was an obligation of the federal government to protect the provincial government from external aggression and internal disturbances and warned the law officer against giving such sweeping statements.
The court observed that it was quite an alarming state of affairs that neither the DAG had any instruction nor did the government file any statement with regard to the action taken in line with Article 148(3) of the Constitution.
“We want to know that what action has been taken by the federal government in compliance with the court directives,” Justice Jawwad S Khawaja observed.
“When will the federal government come to protect the city?” Justice Khawaja asked, adding “When it (Karachi) will burn to ashes and only ruins will be left?” .
The counsel for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) created a new controversy with regard to the previous stand of secretary Election Commission on the delimitation of constituencies in Karachi.
The ECP counsel Munir Paracha told the court that the ECP was examining the legality of the statement of secretary ECP who had given an undertaking before the court that there was no constitutional hurdle in carrying out the delimitation of constituencies in Karachi and assured that such task will be completed after consultation with the all the stakeholders.
He submitted that a political party had also challenged the orders of the Supreme Court to the extent of delimitation of constituencies in Karachi.
The court observed that the filing of a review application does not prevent the ECP from taking steps for the delimitation of constituencies. The counsel, however, submitted that the ECP was also considering carrying out the exercise but it was subject to the internal decision of the ECP and the orders of the court.
Justice Jawwad S Khawaja observed that under Article 218 of the Constitution it was the duty of the Election Commission to organize and conduct the election and to make such arrangements as are necessary to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law.
On court directives with regard to the alteration of administrative boundaries like police stations, revenue estates etc, IGP Sindh counsel submitted that the jurisdiction of 20 out of 107 police stations in the city had been altered. However, he failed to reply to the court whether such alterations were made in compliance with the court directives.
On de-politicisation of the police department, IGP Sindh’s counsel Shah Khawar submitted that after scrutiny by the Special Branch not a single policeman out of over 1,00,000 force in the province was found having any political affiliation.
The court wondered about the statement of the counsel and observed that the previous IG Sindh had categorically stated before it that 40 per cent of the police force was politicised which was the basic hurdle to control lawlessness in the city.
Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany asked why the police did not come out with the truth known to everyone. The court termed such reports unsatisfactory, observing that no sincere efforts had been made to de-politicise the police force.
The court inquired the counsel as to what action had been taken against the criminals who took shelter in political parties. The counsel produced a list of cases without mentioning the nature of offence and affiliation of the accused with political parties.
Justice Amir Hani Muslim observed that the Rangers report was an eye-opener as according to the report they had arrested criminals who confessed to their involvement in several murder cases but the police charged them with encounters and keeping illegal weapons. He observed that all these suspects were released on bail due to ineffective laws and investigation.
The court expressed dissatisfaction with the Sindh government’s compliance report and observed that no comprehensive reply had been filed by the Sindh government. Justice Khawaja observed that it seemed as though ‘we are performing a futile exercise, as no seriousness has been shown on the part of the government functionaries to implement the court directives in letter and spirit’.
The court observed that there was a turf of war between different groups having moral and financial patronage by different political parties; however, no substantive statement was given by the government with regard to the action taken against such elements.
The court observed that the IGP failed to reply as to what action was taken against the culprits seen in a torture cell video. Justice Khilji Arif Hussain observed that the government should acknowledge that it had failed to take action against powerful mafias and was helpless in complying with the court orders.
The court asked the advocate general as to why action was not taken against the criminals having political backing. The court observed that the report was silent with regard to action against such elements. The court observed that the government should admit that it had become helpless due to the political parties’ interference. The court said it will pass orders under the Constitution and non-compliance of its directives will also follow the consequences.
The court directed the IGP Sindh to file a comprehensive report with regard to the arrest of such criminals with their political affiliation. The counsel also filed a list of illegal weapons recovered during raids in different parts of the city.
The law officers of the Sindh government gave different statements on the court directive for legislation on arms licenses and illegal weapons. Additional Advocate General Adnan Karim submitted that the provincial government was constitutionally empowered to pass legislation on arms licenses and that a proposed bill had been forwarded to the law department for presenting the same before the assembly for approval.
However, Prosecutor General Sindh Shahadat Awan submitted that the provincial government could not pass legislation on the matter that may conflict with the federal law under Article 270AA of the Constitution.
Chief Secretary Sindh Raja Abbas submitted that the Home Department had singed an agreement with Nadra for computerization of arms licenses last month. The court observed that despite the lapse of over one and a half year nothing had been done to comply with the court directives.
Justice Khilji Arif Hussain asked how illegal weapons were being smuggled into the city and what steps were taken to curb their smuggling. The court observed that nothing substantial had been done to eliminate illegal weapons and clean the city of arms despite that the subject of arms and their proscription/licensing fell within the provincial domain.
On a court query about the presence of illegal immigrants in the city, the chief secretary said there were 1.4 million illegal immigrants in the city out of which the government had deported 900 to their countries.
Additional Advocate General Adnan Karim submitted that the government had made amendments with regard to anti-encroachment laws and established anti-encroachment police to reclaim the state land from land grabbers. Justice Amir Hani Muslim observed that encroachments had been made on both sides of the Super Highway, but not action was taken to recover the government land.
After taking the statements of government law officers with regard to the compliance of court directives on the Karachi law and order situation on record, the court adjourned the case for Friday.
It is pertinent to mention that the Supreme Court issued a detailed judgment on the Karachi law and order situation on October 6, 2011, directing the police department and government functionaries to take steps for making a legislation to curb illegal weapons, end political polarization and ethnic strife through the delimitation of constituencies and remove no-go areas, encroachments and land grabbing besides the speedy trial of culprits involved in the killings of citizens as well as police officials who took part in the 90s Karachi operation.
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