KARACHI (HRNW) The Sindh High Court on Monday ordered to block the identity cards and accounts of all the absconding accused in the Baldia factory fire case.
The hearing was held on the non-arrest of Hammad Siddiqui and other accused in the Baldia tragedy case.
According to the report of IG Sindh, around 50,058 accused are absconding in Sindh and the number of absconding accused in Larkana division is more than 23,000.
The court was surprised to see such a large number of accused and Justice KK Agha remarked that not apprehending accused is also a crime.
The court gave the IG Sindh the task of arresting the accused and ordered to block the identity cards and accounts of all the fugitive accused.
The court remarked that at present there was no political government in the province and thus no MNA, MPA would interfere in the arrest of the accused.
The court remarked that the law and order situation in the province was bad due to such a large number of absconding accused in Larkana division alone, so what was DIG Larkana doing?
IG Sindh submitted he had taken charge 40 days ago and the DIG Larkana had also been appointed recently.
“Is there any mechanism to arrest the absconding accused? It is your responsibility to arrest the absconding accused and we will not wait for another IG,” the court told the IG.
Justice KK Agha remarked in most of the cases the names, addresses and parentage of the absconding accused were not recorded correctly. In drug cases only the name of the accused persons was recorded. Arguably, the absconding of such a large number of accused in Larkana division is beyond comprehension.
IG Sindh said there were tribal and remote areas due to which such a large number of accused were absconding.
“We also expect the caretaker government to assist in the arrest of the absconding accused,” Justice KK Agha remarked.
IG Sindh replied they would try hard to arrest the absconding accused.
The court blocked the identity cards, bank accounts and passports of the fugitive accused across the province and sought reports from Nadra chairman, Ministry of Interior and External Affairs, and State Bank by October 23.
Nadra report
During the hearing of the case, Nadra submitted a report regarding the fugitive accused Hamad, Khurram Nisar and Taqi Haider Shah in the court and informed the identity cards of the three fugitive accused had been blocked.
SBP report
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in its report said a circular had been issued to all the banks to block the bank accounts of the three fugitive accused.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs report
Karachi Camp Office Ministry of Foreign Affairs director replied the Ministry of Interior was the competent authority to block the passports of the three fugitive accused.
The court expressed its displeasure over the failure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to block the Pakistani passports of the three fugitive accused and asked them to block the passports of the three fugitive accused till the next hearing and submit a report, otherwise the Interior Secretary should appear in the court at the next hearing.
The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented a position in the court that the accused Taqi Haider Shah was in Dubai and in this regard the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was in contact with the UAE authorities while there was no information regarding Taqi Haider Shah’s dual citizenship.
The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the accused Khurram Nisar involved in the killing of the policeman was a Swedish national, for which a request for legal assistance from the Swedish government regarding the accused was also sought.
Later, the Sindh High Court adjourned the further hearing of the case till October 23.