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State assails release of Sheraton blast accused

Staff Report

KARACHI: The state assailed the acquittal of the main accused in the Sheraton suicide bomb blast case before the Sindh High Court on Wednesday in an appeal against the judgement of the Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) in Karachi.

The appeal was filed through Sindh Advocate General. Additional Advocate General Sindh Sarwar Khan is represented the state, assisted by Special Public Prosecutor Shabuddin Memon.

The case pertains to the bomb blast outside Sheraton Hotel in Karachi targeting French engineers, who were working on a submarine being assembled at the Naval Dockyard.

A number of security personnel and civilians besides 11 French men were killed when a suicide bomber blew his vehicle next to a bus parked at the hotel for transporting the French engineers to the workplace. The police later arrested Asif Zaheer and Rizwan Ahmed as plotters of the suicide bombing.

They were acquitted by the SHC appellate bench. Muhammad Sohail was arrested a year back and tried before the ATC in Karachi. He was exonerated of the charges in the case a month back.

The appellant maintained that the trail court erred in evaluating the evidence against Muhammad Sohail as there are witnesses who say that the explosives were prepared at the place rented to the accused and he also purchased the vehicle used in the incident.

The state prayed to the court to overturn the trial court order and sentence Sohail to death in the high profile case.

The state has already filed an appeal before Supreme Court of Pakistan against the SHC judgement, which exonerated Asif Zaheer and Rizwan for insufficient evidence.

According to sources, the appeal in the said case was filed due to increasing pressure from France, which is pressing Islamabad hard for bringing the perpetrators of the horrific bombing to justice without any further delay.

‘Fraudster public servant not entitled to premium’: A division bench of the Sindh High Court comprising Chief Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah on Wednesday observed that a person who has obtained a government job through forgery and fraud could not be entitled to premium (reinstatement from initial appointment date).

The observation came during arguments by advocate Shabbir Ahmed Awan, counsel for respondent Niaz Chachhar who asked the counsel to satisfy the court on a question that admittedly respondent was not qualified for the job in 1996 and acquired requisite educational qualifications in 2005, how could he be reinstated into service from the date of his initial employment.

Can a fraudster be given a government job? The bench asked and added that what was being argued and prayed by the counsel for respondent who is an inspector in Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) would be giving premium to a person who secured government employment by forged documents.

Your client acquired requisite educational qualifications (BA LLB) in 2005 and things started moving when your government came back into power, observed the bench. Qualification does not mean educational qualifications only, it includes everything else as well, observed the bench.

The respondent was removed in 2004 after an inquiry by the department. His removal was ordered after another inquiry by the chief minister’s inspection team.

The SHC bench allowed the petition against which the respondent filed a leave to appeal. The apex court remanded the case back to the SHC to decide the issue that a person appointed in 1996, who acquires requisite qualifications in 2005 could be reinstated from back date (initial date of appointment).

The counsel for respondent after citing a number of case laws sought time for more preparations. The bench allowing the request adjourned further proceedings till December 16.

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