20000315

Plane case

hearing put off

till 20th

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The Anti Terrorism Court judge, Rehmat Hussain Jaffery, on Tuesday adjourned hearing of the October 12 plane conspiracy case till March 20, 2000.

All the accused were brought to the court at about 8:30 a.m but the proceedings began at about 10:30 a.m. Two defence counsel, Haleem Pirzada and Salim Zia, were also present in the court.

Khawaja Sultan, defence counsel of the main accused, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, did not come from Lahore due to lack of confidence about the security arrangements made by the provincial government to protect the defence counsel coming from Lahore against any act of terrorism.

Nawaz Sharif told the court that Khawaja Sultan would come to Karachi and meet him and other members of the defence team on Wednesday.

Haleem Pirzada informed the court that he had spoken to defence counsel Manzoor Malik and Farrukh Imam, representing Rana Maqbool and Ghous Ali Shah, who had agreed to come to Karachi.

Advocate General of Sindh Raja Qureshi informed the court that he was prepared to present arguments on any day and if the defence counsel were not prepared to come to Karachi, the government might provide advocates to the accused to proceed with the case.

The court adjourned the proceedings to facilitate the accused to once again contact their advocates and sort out the issue.

Later, addressing a press conference, Raja Qureshi said that the defence lawyers were ready to argue the case and the prosecution would present its arguments on March 22.

Qureshi said Nawaz Sharif after talking to Khawaja Sultan had informed the ATC that his lawyers were ready to come to Karachi to consult him on the issue.

He said the defence would begin arguments on March 24. They may take four days to complete their arguments, he added.

The advocate general once again assured the defence counsel complete protection and safety during their stay in Karachi. Qureshi said the advocates from Lahore would arrive on Tuesday evening and meet their clients in the court premises on Wednesday.