The Supreme Court Tuesday issued directives to Sindh government to consider inclusion of anti-terror clauses in murder case of social worker Parveen Rehman. A two-member bench headed by Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk resumed the hearing of a constitutional petition filed by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) about the murder of Parveen Rehman, Social Worker/Director of Orangi Project.
The court while expressing concern over inefficiencies of Sindh police department, ordered the provincial government to review the case. During the course of proceedings, a report of a judicial inquiry into the investigation of the murder was presented in the court.
The report stated that police investigators had manipulated the murder investigation. The report recommended reinvestigation into the case. The report was prepared by a district and sessions judge in Karachi on the orders of the Supreme Court. Advocate Kamran Sheikh, the counsel for the HRCP, urged that a joint investigation team should be constituted to probe the matter. However, the Sindh police should not be tasked for reinvestigation, he added. Additional Prosecutor Sindh opposed the formation of a joint investigation team to reinvestigate the matter.
The court remarked that Parveen Rehman was a social worker and apparently had no enmity with anyone. The court added that Parveen Rehman was working against land mafia so the provincial government must examine possibilities of registering the case under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The court adjourned the case till May 6. Parveen Rehman was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle on Manghopir Road on March 13 last year. According to her sister, Parveen regularly campaigned against land and water-tanker mafias, investigating and documenting their activities. According to the report, the mafias were making Rs 500 million annually from this racket and they could not afford a voice being raised against them.