SHC rejects rights activist Sarim Burney's bail plea in children trafficking case

• Burney was held last year upon his arrival at Karachi airport from US.
• Defence argues case dates back to 2019; why FIR was lodged in 2024.
• Investigators allege Burney, accomplices deliberately misled court.

KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday rejected the bail plea of rights activist Sarim Burney, in a human trafficking and document tampering case, with allegations of illegally aiding the adoption of over 25 children in the US.

Following a complaint from the US government, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in June 2024 arrested Sarim Burney upon his return from the US on human trafficking charges.

During today’s hearing, defence lawyer Aamir Mansoor Qureshi argued that the case dates back to 2019, yet FIA only registered the FIR in 2024.

Advocate Qureshi further contended that the charges framed against Burney did not correspond with the legal provisions mentioned in the case, asserting that no forgery was committed in the documents presented by the accused.

However, the prosecution claimed that the names of allegedly trafficked baby girls had been altered in official records. Defence counsel maintained that the Sarim Burney Welfare Trust International (SBWTI) had no documents verifying the original names of the infants in question.

As per the trust’s website, SBWTI is a non-profit, representing the oppressed and the underprivileged, working to procure social justice, through a legal aid committee of professional local and foreign lawyers.

Despite these arguments, the court dismissed the bail application, paving the way for further legal proceedings.

In November 2024, the FIA charged Burney, his wife Aliya Naheed Malik, and others with committing offences under Sections 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using a forged document as genuine), 201 (causing the disappearance of evidence), and 109 (abettal) of the Pakistan Penal Code, and Sections 3 (trafficking in persons), 4 (aggravating circumstances), and 5 (abettal and criminal conspiracy) of the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2018. The final charge sheet led to the issuance of a non-bailable warrant for the arrest of his wife.

The investigators complained that Burney and his co-conspirators had deliberately misled the court through furnished assumed information, making false declarations, and covering up the truth with mala fide intentions.

Ironically, the SBWTI mission statement claims that the trust provides "legal services for child abuse, harassment, sexual assault, human trafficking, domestic violence, violation of human rights, workers compensation rights and other serious crimes".

According to a Unicef report, children in Pakistan are vulnerable to many forms of violence (physical, psychological, sexual) and exploitation, including economic exploitation and child trafficking.

Nearly 30 years after Pakistan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), no publicly coordinated child protection case management and referral system, as aligned with international standards, has been established.