SHC issues non-bailable warrant against interior secretary

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday took exception to the failure of the federal interior secretary to file reports on the presence of missing persons in internment centres of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and his non-appearance before the court, and issued a non-bailable warrant against him through the IG police Islamabad.

Hearing petitions against enforced disappearances, a division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha observed that Federal Interior Secretary Yousuf Nasim Khokar had been directed to file reports from internment centres in KP along with the names of detainees there but the court order was not obeyed.

The high court observed that the interior secretary did not appear before the court and only filed a formal report regarding missing persons. The bench observed that he did not comply with the court orders and attempted to hide himself behind the fact that such matter was also sub-judice before the Supreme Court.

The SHC observed that once again the secretary failed to comply with the orders of the court and did not bother to appear in person as he rather sent the deputy secretary. The bench observed that it was clear indication that the interior secretary had least interest in tracing out the missing persons and he had absolutely no respect for the court orders, which he had consistently violated.

The SHC observed that it had no option but to issue a show-cause notice as to why he should not be proceeded with for violating the court orders. The court also issued non-bailable warrants against the interior secretary to be executed by the IG police Islamabad. The court directed the IG police Islamabad to execute the non-bailable warrants and produce the interior secretary before the court on May 27.