The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed displeasure over lack of progress in the Perween Rahman murder case.
Rahman, the head of the Orangi Pilot Project, who devoted her life to the development of low-income neighbourhoods in Karachi, was gunned down near her office in Karachi’s Orangi Town on March 13, 2013.
Hearing the case on Wednesday, a two-judge bench, headed by Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed, complained that there had been no progress in the case and yet investigators were telling the court that all was well.
Justice Saeed said that the case had lingered on for five years, and asked what had the prosecution and the Sindh police been doing all this time?
Further, he asked why shouldn’t a joint investigation team be set up to probe the matter?
Then the court took a break and as the hearing got resumed, the Sindh government’s lawyer told the court that a JIT had in fact been formed in the case. The lawyer said that a trial had been ordered on the basis of the team’s report.
Subsequently, the court adjourned the case until November 6, while ordering the authorities to provide adequate security to the petitioner, Aqeela Ismail. The Karachi DIG West assured the court that Ismail would be given protection.
Published in Daily Times, October 4th 2018.
