PHC seeks replies in petition seeking diyat

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday directed the Ministry of Defence and Cabinet Division to submit replies in a writ petition filed for seeking diyat or blood money for the civilians killed in the shelling by the Pakistan Air Force during the military operation.
A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Abdul Latif Khan issued the directives in a writ petition filed by a civilian. He had sought diyat as his six family members were killed when his house was shelled.
Additional Attorney General of Pakistan, Syed Muhammad Attique Shah, appeared on behalf of the federal government in the case. He stated that Finance Division had submitted reply but the Secretary Defence had not put forward its reply in the court which was a must.
To the court’s query, he pointed out that under Article 9 of Constitution the state was responsible for life and liberty of a citizen. “No person shall be deprived of life and liberty,” he quoted the Article before the court.
Advocate General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Abdul Latif Yousafzai also appeared on behalf of the provincial government in the case, and stated that the provincial government was in contact with the Ministry of Defence in this regard.
However, he asked why the incident was being agitated now as it had happened in year 2009. He stated that he was not against the compensation, but the court should wait for the Ministry of Defence reply in this regard.
The bench also asked the petitioner’s lawyer to give reasons as to why the issue was brought in the court after years.
Khan Asghar, a resident of Zargari area in the Hangu district, had filed the petition. He had sought diyat amount from the government for the death of his six family members. The slain people included his two daughters Hakeema and Asia and a son Abdul Hameed, two grandsons one-year-old Muhammad Bilal and one and a half years old Abdullah.