Karachi needs Punjab police to curb street crime: SHC judge

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday took exception to the Sindh police’s performance in controlling street crime, observing that the law and order situation cannot be improved in such a state of affairs.

Hearing a petition against the increase in street crime across Karachi, the SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Aftab Ahmed Gorar took notice of the non-filing of comments by police officers on a petition seeking direction to the government and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to take action to curb rampant street crime in the city.

The SHC observed that street crime cannot be controlled until changes are made in the entire hierarchy of the police department. Referring to the Punjab police’s performance in curbing street crime, the bench observed that street crime will be reduced if the Punjab police are called in Sindh. The court directed the relevant DIGs to submit their progress reports by February 19.

Petitioner Muzammil Mumtaz said in his petition that street crime has been increasing in the city, and citizens are being deprived of their valuables. He said muggers are targeting citizens without any checks by the police and other LEAs.

According to the petitioner, several people have lost their lives or been injured while resisting mugging bids, but the LEAs have failed to protect the citizens. The petitioner said that many incidents have been reported in the East district, especially in the Landhi and Korangi areas, but action taken by the police so far is unsatisfactory.

He also accused the investigation agencies of performing their duties dishonestly, saying that police investigation officers do not bother to probe incidents of street crime. He referred to the well-known Supreme Court case on Karachi’s law and order situation in which the top court had directed the LEAs to take action against street criminals and gangsters.

He requested the court to direct the LEAs to take action against muggers and protect the citizens. He also asked the court to direct all the DIGs to call for the record of street crime incidents that have taken place in their respective jurisdictions. The federal law officer said that mobile phone companies should be made respondents in the petition because in many cases phones are used in the crimes.

Directives to AKUH

The SHC directed the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) to submit its criteria for providing free medical aid and treatment to poor and needy patients.

The directives came while the court was hearing a petition of Dur Mohammad Shah seeking directives for the AKUH to provide free medical facilities to needy citizens. The petitioner had submitted that even though land was allotted to AKUH for charitable purposes, in practice the hospital administration was charging patients higher fees than those charged by other charitable hospitals.

Filing a counter affidavit before the SHC, the AKUH counsel submitted that the hospital is a charitable and not-for-profit entity but registered under the Companies Act. He admitted that the government of Pakistan granted 20 and 63 acres of land in two phases for the construction of a charitable hospital and medical college, while the federal and provincial governments also exempted AKUH from property and income taxes.

The counsel denied that AKUH is engaged in commercial activities, stating that it has established Pakistan’s leading charitable and not-for-profit hospital and medical college. He further said that the mere recovery of charges from patients does not change the basic character of the hospital as a charitable organisation because profits are not made for distribution among the members of AKUH, but reinvested in the hospital.

According to the counsel, the reason for charging patients is to maintain the world class standards which have made AKUH the country’s leading hospital network and to enable it to subsidise poor patients or anyone who needs such aid. He said AKUH provided patient welfare to 708,000 patients in 2017.

The SHC division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar inquired from the counsel what the criteria was for providing free medical treatment to needy patients. The counsel then sought time to submit the relevant record regarding rate of discount and free treatment provided by the hospital to poor persons. The counsel was given till February 14 to submit the information.