SHC issues show-cause notice to interior secretary for not filing report on internment centres in KP

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday took exception to the federal interior ministry’s failure to file reports about the presence of missing persons in internment centres of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and issued a show-cause notice to the interior secretary for not complying with the court orders.

Hearing petitions against enforced disappearance of citizens from different areas of Karachi, a division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha observed that it was stated that internment centres were under the administrative control of the KP government but the interior ministry had powers throughout the country.

The high court observed that it had been recently witnessed that the ministry of interior was closely involved in negotiations concerning the activities of organisation known as the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan which carried out demonstrations in Punjab.

The bench observed that as such there was no reasons that the interior secretary could not provide the basic information about the list of detainees at the internment centres in the KP. It added that it appeared that the interior secretary, despite the government’s proclaimed interest in the matter of missing persons, had little interest in tracing out the missing persons’ whereabouts. The high court observed that this was a rather tragic situation as the right to life was one of the most precious fundamental right guaranteed under the constitution.

The SHC directed the interior secretary to produce a list mentioning all the internment centres in the KP along with the persons held therein so that the court could check the names of those missing persons whose cases were pending before the court.

The high court also directed the Sindh advocate general to go through each and every missing person’s case which was pending before the court and provide a list of the missing persons along with relevant details.

In another case of missing person, the high court also issued a show-cause notice to the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) chairman as to why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against him for failing to block the national identity cards of the missing persons.

The high court directed the Nadra chairman to appear in person along with a reply to the show-cause notice.

The defence secretary, however, filed reports which stated that missing persons Mohammad Amin and Mohammad Ilyas were not in the custody of Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence. The high court also issued a show-cause notice to the Sindh home secretary for not placing the matter of missing persons before the provincial task force despite the court orders.