KARACHI: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected Sindh Rangers’ request for powers to investigate and prosecute suspects, register first information reports (FIRs) and set up police stations in the province. The apex court said it couldn’t pass an order granting the paramilitary force these powers because it was not in its jurisdiction to do so. The five-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, observed that a legislative intervention was required to grant the Rangers the powers it had sought from the court. Earlier this week, in a report submitted to the Karachi registry of the SC, the Rangers had requested the said powers, claiming the provincial government and police were under pressure and were “slowing down action against facilitators of criminal activity”. The Rangers’ counsel cited an example of the provincial government’s incompetence, saying that a key suspect involved in the Safoora Goth attack was caught in 2011, but he was released later. The Sindh Police inspector general presented a performance report of his department, which was appreciated by the court. The police chief said that 158 of the total 458 ‘undetected cases’ had been reopened and 67 had been detected. Appreciating the police effort, the court said that this exercise should continue. Separately, the Sindh Police additional inspector general told the apex court on Thursday that more than 12,000 personnel were recruited illegally to the police department from 2012 to 2015. A five-member bench of the court headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali heard the Karachi unrest case. An inquiry committee submitted a report pertaining to release of funds for investigations. Sindh Police inspector general’s counsel Farooq H Naik moved the plea maintaining that the bench was partial in the trial. The inspector general said that Justice Amir Hani Muslim was in contact with the inquiry committee. He said that his respect was not taken into account under Article-14 of the Constitution. Justice Muslim said the bench was conducting the trial on merit. If somebody has reservations about his decisions or behaviour, he could file a review petition, he said. He said that he would not step down as member of the bench hearing the Karachi unrest case. On the other hand, the inquiry committee filed a report on illegal recruitments and corruption in the Sindh Police. Sources said that revelations made in the report stunned the court. According to the report, 99 percent of the funds for investigations were being issued in cash. This was an illegal act.