PHC issues notices to spy agencies, others

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday issued notices to spy agencies including Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Inspector General Frontier Corps in seven fresh missing persons cases.
A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Mrs Justice Irshad Qaisar issued notices to the agencies and ministries of defence and interior in the missing persons’ cases.
Muhammad Iqbal, a resident of Danishabad in Peshawar, had filed a habeas corpus petition through his lawyer Muhammad Arif Jan. He claimed that the agency personnel through the local police had picked up his brother Mirzauddin along with five other persons working with him in a scrap godown on October 13, 2015.
The petitioner claimed that the agencies personnel also took away three vehicles, including a fielder, two cars and a motorcycle. He said later watchman of the scrap godown was released but the remaining persons were still missing.
The petitioner made director general of ISI, DG IB, Station House Officer of Yakatoot Police Station, ministries of defence and interior, Capital City Police Officer and secretary Home Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as parties to the case.
In another missing person case, Hafizur Rehman, father of the missing person, Binyamin, claimed that the Mohmand Rifles personnel had picked up his son some two years ago and then handed him over to FC.
Similarly, Amir Ahmad, a resident of Topi area in Swabi district, claimed in his petition filed through his lawyer Malik Amjad Inayat that he had handed over his son Muzzamil Shah to the Pakistan Army after receiving notice that he was wanted to the army in some cases. Later he went missing.
Siraja Bibi, mother of Abubakar, a resident of Charsadda district, filed a petition through her lawyer Jehangir. She claimed her son went to Bannu and then went missing from there. During hearing of those missing persons cases shifted to internment centres, the chief justice expressed concern over non-submission of reports by the relevant agencies and officials of provincial government about detention of the missing persons in the internment centres.
The chief justice questioned that when the respondent ministries and other departments concerned agreed with the court for a proper procedure in the missing persons cases, why then they were not following the procedure in these cases.
Under the procedure, he said the court had given three chances to the relevant agencies, officials and ministries to submit replies in the cases. He said the replies were not filed even in three chances.
The chief justice said that if they continued non-submission of replies, then the court would summon all the officials concerned in these cases. Additional Attorney General, Waqar Ahmad Khan, representing the provincial government, and Deputy Attorney General Manzoor Khalil, representing the federal government and agencies, requested the court to give a last chance to them for submission of replies. The bench was hearing 19 missing persons cases shifted to various internment centres.