PHC issues notice to Defence, Interior ministries

Petition on missing persons

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday issued a notice to the ministries of Defence and Interior in a habeas corpus petition filed by a woman’s about her husband and missing sons in Swat district.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Nisar Hussain Khan and Justice Roohul Amin Khan issued the notice to Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior and Secretary Home and Tribal Affairs in the missing persons’ case.

Zahida Bibi, a resident of Kabal area in the Swat district, had filed the habeas corpus petition in the high court.

It was about the enforced disappearance of her husband and three sons.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s lawyer Bashir Khan Wazir submitted that the security forces took her husband Daulat Shah and three sons, including Shujaat Shah, Syed Asmat Shah and Masood Shah, into custody some years back.

He said the petitioner’s husband Daulat Shah was found in the internment centre in Kohat while her son Shujaat Shah was detained at the Internment centre in Lakki Marwat.

However, the woman’s two sons Syed Asmat Shah and Masood Shah were still missing.

The lawyer informed the bench that the petitioner had received the body of her husband from the internment centre in Kohat while her son Shujaat Shah was declared black by the oversight board. However, her two sons Syed Asmat Shah and Masood Shah were still missing.

He told the bench that the security forces also seized 22 kanals land, a house and a tractor of the petitioner. He said the security forces had handed over her house to some local people and she was compelled to stay with her relatives.

The bench asked Deputy Attorney General Musaratullah Khan representing the two ministries and federal government to ensure submission of a report about whereabouts of her two missing sons and her house before the next hearing.

In another case, the petitioner’s lawyer Khalid Afridi informed the bench that Counter-Terrorism Department picked up a missing person, Khan Wahid, from his house on May 6, 2015 from Afridi Garhi in Peshawar and his whereabouts were unknown to date.

He said the missing person, who was a Bachelor of Commerce (B Com) student, was picked up by the CTD officials. His laptop and other documents were also seized.

The bench issued a notice to the station house officer of Gulbahar and CTD’s Gulbahar in-charge to submit reply in the case.