A Karachi court on 11-July-2025 allowed an application filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) seeking transfer of a child trafficking case against incarcerated social worker Sarim Burney to a federal anti-corruption court.
FIA Investigation Officer (IO) Bilal Ahmed moved the application before Judicial Magistrate (East) Yusra Ashfaq to transfer the case from this court to a special court anti-corruption (Central-II) Karachi over lack of jurisdiction in the light of the recent amendment to the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act 2018.
The magistrate announced the order reserved earlier after hearing arguments from both sides allowing the FIA’s plea. She transferred the main case along with a fresh bail application filed by Burney to the special court for hearing, according to defence lawyer Raj Ali Wahid Kunwar.
In the application, the IO stated that the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act 2018 had been amended on March 22, 2025. According to the amended law, he said, if an offence involves transportation of the victim into or out of Pakistan and it constitutes part of the transaction constituting the offence, the special court (Central) established under the Pakistan Criminal Law Amendment Act 1958 shall try such offence, punishable under this Act.
He said the subject case involved transportation of victims into or out Pakistan and requested the magistrate to transfer the case to the special court. Earlier, Burney had moved a post-arrest bail application citing delay in the conclusion of trial as the fresh ground for relief.
The defence counsel said that this was the sixth bail plea after the Sindh High Court dismissed his post-arrest bail application on February 10. He argued that the statutory ground of delay as provided under Section 497(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) did not exist at the time when the previous bail applications were decided. Therefore, he added, this was the first bail plea on the ground of delay in the conclusion of trial. The lawyer said his client had been behind bars since his arrest on June 5, 2024 and till today even charge against him had not been framed.
Published in News Daily on 12 July 2025.
