Lawyers demand judicial probe into May 12 mayhem

KARACHI: The legal fraternity on Monday announced to observe a black day and complete boycott of court proceedings in order to commemorate the May 12, 2007 tragedy and demanded a judicial probe into the lawlessness and killing of over 50 persons of May 12 mayhem and role of law enforcement agencies for failure to bring the culprits to justice.

The demand came by the Sindh Bar Council Vice Chairman Syed Haider Imam Rizvi and other SBC members. The SBC Vice Chairman said that more than 50 people were killed on the streets of Karachi to stop former Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry from attending a reception hosted by the High Court Bar Association and former military dictator and his allies committed naked terrorism in Karachi. He said that despite the killing of innocent citizens, then President and Army Chief General Pervez Musharaf termed it a manifestation of people's power.

The bar leader demanded that the tragic incident of May 12, 2007 should be inquired into by the full bench of Sindh High Court consisting of not less than seven member judges as it was constituted on the orders of then Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed or the full bench of Supreme Court. He said that despite the lapse of 14 years, the provincial government had failed to fairly, properly and independently inquire into the tragic incident and responsible involved in the incidents were still at large.

He said that all those persons who were at the helm of affairs, who had the command and control responsibility on or before May 12, 2007 should be brought to justice in order to ascertain the responsibility for the incident, which led to complete breakdown of law and order in Karachi and cost many precious lives and led to an attack on the independence of the judiciary and the media.

The Sindh High Court Bar Association also decided to observe a full day strike on May 12 and demanded the arrest of culprits involved in the incidents. SHCBA Secretary Haseeb Jamali said that the government had failed to conduct fair investigations into such grave incidents which claimed more than 50 lives.

It is pertinent to mention the SHC on September 12, 2018 had ordered the Sindh government to constitute an inquiry tribunal headed by a sitting or retired high court judge to probe the violent incidents of May 12, 2007, which occurred over a decade ago.

The SHC, which also framed a 13-point terms of reference for the inquiry, observed that the tribunal shall complete the inquiry within three months.