• The court issues notices to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others regarding a declaration filed by six foreigners.
• Foreign investors report “worrying incidents” that force them to leave the country.
KARACHI: A constitutional bench of the Sindh High Court on Friday issued notices to the foreign ministry and others on a petition filed by six Chinese nationals against harassment and restrictions on their movement in the name of “security issues”.
The two-judge bench comprising Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha and Justice Adnan-ul-Karim Memon also notified the Chinese embassy in Pakistan and its consulate in Karachi, as well as federal and provincial judicial officials.
Mr. Xu Hui, Ms. Deng Huan and four other Chinese nationals submitted a petition to the SHC through their lawyer Peer Rehman Mehsud and claimed that they, along with thousands of other Chinese nationals, arrived here after complying with all the required legal formalities and invested a significant amount of money and resources. in various companies and business sectors in Pakistan.
They held that it was the responsibility of the concerned respondents to protect and provide a safe environment to all foreign nationals legally residing and investing in the country, including the petitioners.
The petitioners said that the Sindh police had engaged in repeated acts of harassment over the past six to seven months, including unjustified restriction of movements of Chinese nationals in Karachi and Sindh, particularly when they had also been subjected to unjustified detention within their residences under the pretext of “security issues” without any clear legal basis or specific incidents that would justify such actions.
They also contended that the police officers, deployed at the residences of the petitioners, had literally locked them in their houses and restricted their movement within the confines of their houses following the instructions of their senior officers and when the petitioners gave in to their illegal demands to pay 30 rupees. ,000 to 50,000 rupees and then they let them go.
The petitioners further said that recently the officials of Sukhan Police Station had sealed seven industrial units of other Chinese nationals without prior notice, for “security reasons”, who were now preparing to invest in Lahore or leave the country. in view of such unjustified restrictions.
They also stated that, in reality, their miseries began upon their arrival at the airport, as the officials involved would not let them enter the country without being bribed even though they had all the legally required documentation.
In the second phase, the petitioners had to wait for hours under the instructions of these officials as they could not return home without armored vehicles, for which they themselves had to pay considerable sums, they claimed.
They further blamed the police for allegedly throwing stones at the cars of Chinese nationals, breaking their rear windshields and maintained that the police officers deployed appeared very indecent and untrained as there were complaints against them for disturbing the privacy of the petitioners and demanding “tips” from 15,000 to 50,000 rupees.
The petitioners argued that they were also not allowed to file complaints/FIRs against such offences. They said that an incident of theft of Rs 2 million had taken place at the house of one of the petitioners in October 2024, but the police station concerned had refused to register an FIR while the police detained the translators of the petitioners. petitioners without any legal justification.
They also claimed that voices had already been raised for redressal of their grievances, but so far the respondents had not given any positive response.
They argued that the alleged harassment, illegal detentions, unjustified restrictions on movement and even the acceptance of illegal gratification directly infringed the petitioners’ universally recognized fundamental rights, which were also guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan. Such incidents had seriously affected the petitioners’ ability to conduct business and engage in essential professional and personal activities, they added.
They asked the court to declare the alleged detention, harassment and restriction of their movement illegal and unconstitutional, and to issue directives to relevant authorities to design and implement appropriate protective measures to ensure the legal movement and safety of Chinese citizens residing /work here online. with Pakistan’s commitment to investor protection and international obligations.
The petitioners further sought directions to the respondents to conduct a high level joint investigation against the officials/staff involved in such illegal acts and take strict and exemplary action against the culprits in accordance with law.
They also named Sindh Chief Secretary, Provincial Home Secretary, Sindh Inspector General of Police and several other senior police officials as respondents.
After a preliminary hearing, the court issued notices to the three respondents, as well as the deputy attorney general and the advocate general of Sindh, for a date to be fixed after four weeks.
Published in Dawn, January 25, 2025
