Rangers file suit against MQM leader

The Sindh Rangers have filed a Rs500 million libel case in Sindh High Court against senior MQM leader Waseem Akhtar for accusing the paramilitary force of snatching hides of sacrificial animals from his party's workers.
The Rangers claimed that Waseem Akhtar had maligned the force and undermined its reputation. This is an unprecedented libel case by a state institution against a political leader in country's legal history.
Waseem Akhtar is candidate for the office of Karachi mayor. He flew to London on Wednesday along with senior party leaders Dr Farooq Sattar and Nasreen Jaleel. They will seek party chief Altaf Hussain's approval for nominating its candidates for mayor and deputy mayor of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation. The MQM is in an unassailable position to secure both jobs, having won 134 out of 209 seats of the corporation in the recently held local government election.
The Sindh High Court on Thursday instructed Waseem Akhtar to submit a reply by December 21.
The Sindh Rangers had also submitted an application in the court, asking the presiding judge to issue a restraining order against the MQM leader, which would prevent him from issuing public statements against the Rangers in the future. The restraining order has not been issued by the court yet.
Rangers have stated in the application that the "Sindh Rangers are a respected state institution, and their image was damaged by the comments made".
The case was filed by the Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch of the paramilitary force.
Rangers had sent a legal notice to Waseem Akhtar on October 26, asking him to explain the allegations that he had levelled against the paramilitary force.
In September, Waseem Akhtar had alleged on a private TV channel that the Rangers were involved in the theft of sacrificial hides collected by MQM workers during Eid Al Adha.
Waseem Akhtar was also booked under sedition and terror charges in October.
The MQM leader was booked under sections 123-A (Condemnation of the creation of the state and advocate of abolition of its sovereignty), 124-A (Sedition) of Pakistan Penal Code and Telegraph Act and Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997.
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