News
Friday, October 07, 2011
Govt has failed on Karachi: SC
* SC warns political parties to end ties with criminals or get ready for action
* Orders elimination of ‘no-go areas’ in Karachi
* Karachi must be cleansed from weapons
By Hasnaat Malik
ISLAMABAD: A five-member special bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday noted that the government had failed to protect life and property of the citizens in Karachi.
A five-member special bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry directed that a committee be constituted under the Sindh High Court (LHC) chief justice (CJ), comprising the chief secretary and heads of the law enforcement agencies to supervise and ensure a stern and ordered across the board action against the elements involved in causing disturbance in Karachi.
The bench declared that recent violence in Karachi represents unimaginable brutalities, bloodshed, kidnapping and throwing away dead bodies and torsos in bags.
The court noted that the federal government had also not protected the Sindh province against internal disturbance, thus the provincial government on this account, too, failed to carry out functions in accordance with Article 148(3) of the constitution.
Justice Chaudhry read out the detailed judgement, which comprised 156 pages in the open court.
The CJP apprehended that any further failure of the government to protect the life and property of the citizens would cause unprecedented disaster.
The court observed that there were criminals who had made their way into politics and were getting political and financial support allegedly from political parties.
Therefore, the political parties should denounce their affiliation with the criminals in the interest of the country and democratic set up and they should not allow them to use their names as militant outfits of the political parties. “Failure to do so may entail consequences of a penal nature against the party or person responsible, whether in the office or not,” the CJP warned.
He also observed that in respect of banning any political party, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), is not within the domain of the court at this stage and it is the responsibility of the federal government to act under Article 17 for action against any party violating this article. The court also ordered elimination of any existing ‘no-go areas’ in Karachi.
The court held that Karachi has to be cleansed from all kinds of weapons and police be depoliticised and strengthened while there is a need for a fresh comprehensive law to eliminate and punish land grabbers and encroachers.
The court observed that the government could revive people’s confidence by not using the administration and the police for political or private end. Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Ghulam Rabbani comprised of the bench.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk