SHC restrains police from lodging more cases against journalist

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) Thursday restrained the police from lodging more cases against a journalist without its prior permission.

The two-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro also directed the police not to harass the journalist and adjourned the matter till Jan 22 for regular hearing. Ajeeb Lakho, a Khairpur-based journalist, through his lawyer moved the SHC seeking protection and contended that police had lodged 18 cases against him in Sukkur range allegedly after he filed a news against the DIG Sukkur regarding the smuggling of Iranian oil. The counsel for petitioner Aslam Bhutta Advocate argued that the petitioner managed to get bail in all the cases and fled to Karachi since police were harassing him and intended to lodge more cases. The DIG Sukkur in his comments asserted that the petitioner was a blackmailer and there was an order of a sessions court against him in this regard. The lawyer for petitioner contended that the SHC had suspended the order of sessions court.