Hang them, but after a fair trial

One charge, 75 cases

Ansar Abbasi
Friday, November 28, 2014
From Print Edition

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ISLAMABAD: Hang Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and hang others too but at least give them a
fair trial.

No one seeks quashment of the case. There is no grudge even if the most irrelevant persons are
also named in the FIR. No complaint about the missing police investigation and also the
prosecution to ascertain at least the basic facts of the case. The The problem is how an accused
could be tried 75 times for one offence.

Article 13 of the Constitution provides that no person shall be prosecuted for the same offence
more than once. But in the case of Geos controversial Uttho Jago Pakistan programme, 75
FIRs have been registered in different parts of the country containing offences ranging from antiterrorism to blasphemy.

Imagine the accused in these FIRs attending investigations of 75 police stations. Imagine the
accused appearing before 75 courts. Imagine 75 police teams running after one set of accused.
This could only happen in Pakistan.

Almost 75 court cases if fixed every 15 days would mean that the accused is/are required to
appear to defend charges relating to the same incident 160 times every month (24 days) in 75
courts all over the country. It means appearing in six different courts in a SINGLE DAY, a
practical impossibility.

And if you dont appear, it will lead to 75 possible convictions. Mir Shakil-ur Rehman and a few
others have already been convicted by an anti-terrorist court in Gilgit for 26 years jail without
giving them the chance to defend themselves and without even ascertaining their relevance to the
offence.

If the remaining 74 odd FIRs also end up in the same fashion, the jail sentence for these accused
would be for thousands of years. What hurts me personally is the reported news story of a
television channel, which had claimed that non bailable arrest warrants of Najam Sethi, Amir
Liaqat Husain and Ansar Abbasi have been issued by an anti-terrorist court in the same case in a
district in the interior Sindh.

I fail to understand why I have been named in the FIR when I have nothing to do with Geo or
any of its show, including Uttho Jago Pakistan. I am an employee of The News. Thank God I
dont watch any morning show because of my serious reservations. But still as per the TV report
not only my name has been included in the FIR but the police too let it go and the concerned
court issued my non-bailable warrants. It may be a joke for many but I may also end up getting
26 years jail.

As for as my information is concerned Najam Sethi and Dr Amir Liaqat too had nothing to do
with Uttho Jago Pakistan but still the court issued their warrants. Why they have been named in
the FIR, only the complainant, the police or the court could tell. A director of Jang group
Muhammad Suleman is also named in one of the FIRs. Why? Nobody knows.

This situation is known to the government as well as many of the parliamentarians. Earlier the
Supreme Court and later the provincial High Courts have been informed about this dilemma of
one offence and 75 FIRs.

No one seeks any favour but a fair deal. There has been no demand for quashment of the FIRs or
the cases but their merger even if the list of accused grows to include every member of the Jang

group and Geo. There is also no demand to exclude any charge. Let all charges included in the
book of statutes be included in the FIR against the Jang Group. The only demand is include
everything in one FIR. Who can do it, only the legal minds could tell but what one believes the
present situation is nothing but mockery of the countrys criminal justice system.

I am told that when over 40 FIRs relating to the same incident had been registered in all four
provinces, the Jang management realising that no single High Court could enforce Article 13 all
over the country, filed a writ petition before Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The relief sought by Jang group was NOT quashment of any FIR but just to have them clubbed
together so that all the accused named in those FIRs could face charges and defend themselves in
ONE court. However, after hearing the petition, SC Bench did not club the FIRs but expressed
the view that the petitioners should seek remedy from respective High Courts upon which the
petition was withdrawn.

When the SC was told that it might delay things the apex court added the following expression in
its order: In case such petitions are filed, we trust that the High Courts would entertain the same
expeditiously.

As per SCs desire, Jang Group filed petitions in all four High Courts seeking clubbing together
of all FIRs. In none of these petitions, the quashment of any FIR was sought. All that has been
sought is the collection of FIRs in one place so that the accused could appear before court, obtain
bail and face charges against them. But to date, no High Court has clubbed these FIRs.

Mir Shakil-ur Rehman is a wealthy person. He is well connected and can hire dozens of lawyers
to defend him in all the high courts, in the apex court and possibly in many of the lower courts
but still he cant face 75 FIRs, 75 criminal investigations and 75 courts. If this could happen to a
person with so much influence, the tales of the injustices of our criminal justice system in the
case of ordinary Pakistanis and poor fellows would have been horrific and atrocious.

The entire criminal justice system of the country needs a thorough review and complete overhaul
for which the government, the parliament and judiciary all have to contribute. The earlier it is
done, the better.

With regard to the legal system along with ATC court, Chief Court and Supreme Court of Gilgit
Baltistan, it is all based on a notification that was issued by federal government in 2009. In that
notification, the federal government forgot to include Articles 4 and 13 of the Constitution. The
notification is flawed in that it does not provide any rights for citizens of Pakistan who may be
tried in courts in Gilgit.

This means that if a person gets an FIR registered in Gilgit against a citizen of Pakistan, that
citizen will not be entitled to any fundamental right, not even the right as guaranteed in Article 4
of Constitution to be treated in accordance with law.

The negligence of federal government in setting up such a defective legal system in Gilgit was
always prone to be used and abused by any mischievous person. The system there too needs
correction for which the government and Parliament have to play the lead role.