Pearl case venue change: SC moved
KARACHI- Former Justice of Lahore High Court, K M Samdani filed appeal in Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan on Saturday against an order of Sindh High Court by which the case involving the kidnapping of US journalist Daniel Pearl was transferred from Karachi to Hyderabad.
The petition, which is also accompanied by an urgent application for stay of proceedings in Hyderabad jail, will be taken up by a three-member bench of Supreme Court of Pakistan at its principal seat in Islamabad on Monday.
The Sindh High Court (SHC), on an application moved by AG Sindh Raja Qureshi, had transferred the case from the Anti Terrorist Courts (ATC), headed by Abdul Ghafoor Memon, to the ATC, headed by Judge Syed Ali Ashraf Shah. The bench had also changed the venue of the trial from Central Jail Karachi to Central Jail Hyderabad.
Abdul Waheed Katpar and Syed Mohsin Imam, counsel for accused Omar Sheikh, told sources that the main contention taken in the appeal was that the SHC had exercised its jurisdiction under Section 561-A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) without any justification because the circumstances of the case did not warrant its transfer from one city to another.
The fact remain unchallenged that the prosecution had, after examining its six witnesses, realised that it might not secure conviction from the court, headed by Abdul Ghafoor Memon, on the basis of the evidence brought forth by the investigating agency. It has further been pleaded that change of venue of trial had caused hardships and inconvenience for the defence side and it would be in the interest of justice if the order of the SHC was set aside. The counsel has also solicited stay in the proceedings of the case till realisation of the appeal.
Source: The News
Date:5/5/2002
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