Wali Babar murder case: Lawyer to represent suspects must be appointed, says ATC

The case has stalled because of the failure of the defence counsel to show up in previous hearings. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) ordered, on Tuesday, to appoint a counsel for the suspects on state expenses due to the absence of a defence counsel for the last many hearings in the Wali Khan Babar murder case.

The court accepted the application of the special public prosecutor, Abdul Maroof, seeking appointment of the defence counsel while giving a last chance to the defence counsel to appear before the court on October 22.

In the previous hearing, Maroof had filed an application before the ATC-III. Maroof had said that the case was pending before the court as the defence counsel had been absent and the case had been adjourned several times which was against the spirits of the Anti Terrorism Act (ATA).

According to section 19 sub section (7) of the ATA, the court shall, on taking cognizance of a case, proceed with the trial on a day-to-day basis and shall decide the case within seven working days, failing which an application may be made to the administrative judge of the high court for appropriate directions to dispose of the case.

In his application, Maroof stated that an ATC shall not adjourn the case unless such an adjournment is, in its opinion, necessary in the interest of justice and no adjournment shall, in any case be granted for more than two working days. “If any counsel is absent for two consecutive hearings, the court should take necessary action to ensure proceedings.”He had requested the court to appoint a state counsel for the suspects on state expenses so that the matter may not be adjourned again. Judge Saleem Raza Baloch of the ATC-III, while fixing the matter for final arguments, had issued notice to the defence counsel for October 8. The defence counsel, however, didn’t appear before the court.

Babar, a journalist who worked for a private television channel, was gunned down in January 2011 in Liaquatabad area of Karachi. Several witnesses in the journalist’s murder were killed one after the other. The case is fixed for final arguments on October 22.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2013.