The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the lawyer for the parents of 10-year-old Amal Umer to review the replies submitted by various respondents to the findings of an inquiry committee that probed the circumstances of Amal’s death during a cross-firing incident between police and criminals in August 2018.
During a hearing of the suo-motu case, a two-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, was told by Advocate Faisal Siddiqui, who is representing Umer’s parents, that the committee’s report had been submitted. He also read out the recommendations made by the committee.
Additionally, Siddiqui told the court that the Sindh government, Sindh Police and the National Medical Centre had also submitted their replies to the report.
In January, the special committee had recommended that police personnel engaged in patrolling to control street crimes should not carry sub-machine guns (SMGs), but should carry pistols or handguns instead.
A three-member bench of the SC, headed by then chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, had formed the committee under the chairmanship of a retired superior court judge, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, and assigned it the task of identifying negligence on the part of police and private hospitals in dealing with emergency situations and suggest reforms.
The apex court today ordered Siddiqui to submit a detailed response after reviewing the replies submitted by the various parties to the case. The court also asked Siddiqui to include which recommendations had been implemented, which had not been implemented and which were not possible to implement.
Justice Isa further inquired whether all parties to the case were satisfied with the report.
As per the legal counsel for Umer’s parents, they were completely satisfied with the committee’s report and agreed with all its recommendations.
The lawyer for National Medical Centre also said that they agreed with the recommendations of the committee, but did not agree with the opinion included regarding the hospital’s role.
Sindh Police said that they found the recommendations made by the committee to be acceptable, adding that in light of the committee report, they had already taken several steps. They further stated that their reply to the report had also been submitted.
Justice Isa asked if Umer’s parents wanted to shift the hearing of the case to Karachi, they could submit a request to the Chief Justice of Pakistan. However, her parents said they had no issue with the hearings of the case taking place in Islamabad.
The hearing was subsequently adjourned till April 24.
