Govt ordered to provide details of Pak pilgrims deaths

LAHORE
The Lahore High Court Justice Ayesha A Malik on Wednesday directed ministry for foreign affairs and federal government to provide details of casualties of Pakistani pilgrims in Mina incident.
The court has issued these directions on a petition moved by a citizen namely Arif Idrees and has postponed the further hearing by October 6.
The petitioner contended that international media has reported that 286 pilgrims of Pakistan died in the incident but officials of Religious Ministry Pakistan were misleading people by trying to minimise the death toll. He said day by day the number was increasing and the relatives of missing pilgrims were worried about whereabouts and lives of their loved ones but the government was not providing them proper information.
He said Director General Haj Pakistan (Jeddah) Abu Akaf and Director Haj Islamabad Rafay Bashir were responsible for withholding information so as to cover corruption as they were already holding illegal extension and were interested to receive kickbacks like their other colleagues.
Through his counsel he alleged that international media had reported deaths were 286 but Ministry of Religious Affairs was deliberately withholding the true information and it showed the inefficiency, bad governance and to cover up performance of the responsible officers of the ministry who were appointed on political basis.
All details are with them but in order to cover up corruption the details are not being provided to the public and electronic and print media is helping the public which is the function of the state.
He requested the court to issue directions to the ministry to provide true details about the casualties and injured pilgrims in Mina incident and ensure action against the responsible of withholding the information.
Kanju: An Anti-Terrorism Court on Wednesday recorded statement of another witness in the case of Mustafa Kanju, son of former state minister Siddique Kanju, accused of killing a 16-year old orphan boy Zain, and injuring Hussain, 18, a laborer’s son.
The court directed the prosecution to produce more witnesses. Captain (r) Raja Shuja Zada appeared in the court and recorded his statement. Previously, it was witnessed that the complainant of the case and another witness turned hostile as they refused to identify the main suspect Mustafa Kanju.
The prosecution had said that the complainant had accused Mustafa Kanju of murder of Zain but suddenly turned hostile as he might have been offered ‘something’ from Mustafa Kanju.
NAB: A two-member bench of the LHC headed by Justice Mahmood Maqbool Bajwa on Wednesday summoned National Accountability Bureau’s Director General to explain that why investigation officers of the bureau do not comply with the court order.
The bench observed that simple and short matter was lingered on due to inefficiency of the NAB officers concerned, which state of affairs could not be appreciated. The bench gave these remarks while hearing a petition filed by a man against NAB for not giving his promised claim recovered from a defaulted forex company.
Muhammad Hussain Rana, the petitioner, told the court that he had been compelled by the NAB to receive only Rs27,450 with an undertaking that he would be satisfied after receipt of the said amount.
Whereas, he said the NAB had previously verified his claim to the extent of $5,000 invested in the ROUF International Advisory Services, that defrauded public at large.