Court seeks report on missing persons’ cases

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday sought a report from the government about the disappearance of three citizens, including two brothers from Charsadda and one from Dera Ismail Khan.

During the hearing, Acting Chief Justice SM Attique Shah expressed surprise over the fact that the Commission on Enforced Disappearances had only one focal person for the entire country. He directed the government to appoint an additional focal person.

During the proceedings, when the court inquired about the focal person’s absence, it was informed that he was attending another court hearing. The brother of the missing persons told the court that his two brothers had been missing since 2023. “We are six brothers and belong to Charsadda,” he stated.

The chief justice questioned why only these two people were taken when thousands of others lived in the same village. The petitioner clarified that his family was not involved in politics and that he himself was an Islamic studies graduate working as a peshimam.

The chief justice responded by saying that there was no restriction on participation in politics, citing the example of JUIF leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman.The father of the missing brothers pleaded with the court, stating, “If my sons have committed any crime, they should be produced in court and punished accordingly, but at least let us see them.”

Additional Advocate General Muhammad Inam Yusufzai informed the court that one of the missing persons had previous FIRs registered against him. The court then instructed the federal government to submit a response and directed that future hearings into the Charsadda case should be conducted via video link to spare the petitioner from traveling to Peshawar.

The court also heard the case of a missing person from Dera Ismail Khan. The missing man’s son informed the court that his father, who was in the meat supply business, had

disappeared in 2020 after traveling to Dera Ismail Khan.

During the hearing, the deputy attorney general stated that the report on the missing persons was still pending.The chief justice questioned the delay, to which the deputy attorney general replied that gathering information from across the province and country took time.

The court was informed that the provincial Home Department’s focal person compiled and submitted the reports.Expressing dissatisfaction with the absence of the focal person, the chief justice remarked, “Should we issue warrants for his arrest?”

The court was informed that the focal person was attending a meeting of the commission in Islamabad and that only one focal person was assigned to both Peshawar and Islamabad.

The chief justice instructed the Home Department to appoint a second focal person immediately and submit a notification about the appointment.