Missing persons case: No justification to keep anyone under custody without case, declares SC

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday said that there is no justification of keeping any person under custody without case.

The Supreme Court said this while hearing into the missing persons case. The three-member SC bench, headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and comprising Justice Maqbool Baqir and Justice Faisal Arab, took up the case for hearing.

During the hearing, Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan remarked that there is no justification of keeping any person under custody without any case. He said that they are living in such a state which is called Islami Jamhooria but when the state fails in performing its responsibilities, the people will come forward to remind them in this regard.

During the hearing of the case, secretary Law Commission presented a report to the court and said that the commission had disposed of 3,000 cases about missing persons while 577 cases were pending.

President of Defence of Human Rights Amna Masood Janjua told the court that head of Missing Persons Commission Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal was not giving time to the commission, while commission had shut its doors on missing persons.

Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan said that what the court could do when no material was available before it. Amna Masood Janjua said that the Missing Persons Commission had returned her applications registered by post. Justice Ejaz Afzal said that the court should be informed about the details of those applications, adding that applicants should be encouraged rather discouraged in connection with the missing persons.

Amna Masood said that Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal should raise the case of missing persons at the higher level and should give policy to solve this issue. The court adjourned hearing of the case sine die.