Quetta: SC to take up a trio of critical cases today

ISLAMABAD: A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry would hear three important cases at the Supreme Court's Quetta registry today (Thursday).

Among the cases to be heard is also the petition on Balochistan law and order situation and target killing filed by Balochistan High Court Bar Association President Hadi Shakeel Ahmed.

In addition to that the bench would also hear the Karachi violence and Mir Bakhtiar Khan Domki's wife and daughter murder cases.

Earlier in Tuesday's hearing, Supreme court rejecting Balochistan government reports had directed the authorities to submit fresh complete report regarding the law and order situation of the province till tomorrow (Thursday) on April 05.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Choudhry, had expressed his displeasure over the investigative report submitted by the Inspector General of Police during the course of hearing on Tuesday.

The Chief Justice said that the report submitted by the IG is not categorized on the basis of districts and tehsils. The Chief justice also questioned the IGP for not registering the Sapni road incident case.
He also raised the issue of kidnapping for ransom and questioned the alleged involvement of a certain minister in the kidnapping of a Hindu girl.

He rhetorically asked that what message would go from Balochistan if people were being killed in the province on a daily basis.

Giving remarks on Karachi situation the Chief Justice slammed the law enforcement authorities for not acting on the court’s orders to address the Karachi issue.

“The target killing would have halted, if the court’s orders had been followed,” said the Chief Justice, adding that steps were not taken to deweaponize the city as directed by the apex court.

The increasing influence of the political parties in the law enforcement agencies has not been addressed there are still no-go areas in the city, he added.

CJ Chaudhry had taken the notice of a news related to the involvement of ministers in kidnapping for ransom cases in Balochistan.

The Chief Justice also ordered that the statement of the provincial home minister be made part of the record of the Balochistan Security Situation Case.

During proceedings of the case President Balochistan High Court Bar Association, he said that certain ministers were said to be involved in kidnapping for ransom cases.

Chief Justice Chaudhry remarked that no one was above the law and those ministers who were being mentioned should be taken into police custody.
The Chief Justice inquired from the Interior Secretary if the provincial home minister had been asked which ministers were involved in kidnapping.

The Chief Justice added that there was a complete failure in stopping crime in Balochistan and declared the Advocate General’s report regarding police performance over the last three years as unsatisfactory.