If govt doesn’t act, PM to be summoned in missing persons case: IHC CJ

The IHC gave THE last chance to the State for recovery of missing persons, remarking if tangible steps were not taken till September 9 then the prime minister will be summoned

By Our Correspondent
July 05, 2022
The IHC building in Islamabad. Photo: The News/File
The IHC building in Islamabad. Photo: The News/File

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday gave last chance to the State for recovery of missing persons, remarking if tangible steps were not taken till September 9 then the prime minister will be summoned.

The court further remarked state should recover all missing persons. The affectees be satisfied. The chief executive’s action against the responsible persons should be visible. A single bench of IHC led by Chief Justice Athar Minallah took up for hearing the missing persons case.

The lawyers Inam ul Rahim and Emman Mazari appeared on behalf of missing persons while Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Arshid Mehmood Kiani also appeared in the court. – Online News Desk adds: "It is a fact that nobody is doing anything [about it],” Justice Minallah remarked during the hearing of identical petitions seeking the recovery of missing persons, Geo News reported.

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When asked how many people are missing, the deputy attorney general, while citing a report, apprised the court that out of 8,400 people, 600 citizens are still missing. “Many people are playing a double role in the case; they are playing from both sides,” he added.

Reprimanding the deputy attorney general, the court asked, “Then, what is the purpose of recruiting so many policemen?” At this, PPP leader Farhatullah Babar said, “So many people were picked up but it is not known yet who picked them.”

“Which party do you represent? Has it ever been in government?” asked the court. Babar said that he is affiliated with the PPP and it had been in the government. “When people were picked up in your government, then what did you do?” inquired the judge.

Meanwhile, the court appointed Farhatullah Babar and Islamabad Bar Council’s member Advocate Abid Nazir as amici curiae in the case. Babar urged the court to make Mansoor Alam Commission report public. Stressing the need for summoning the prime minister, he said that calling other officers is useless in this case. Later, the court adjourned that hearing till September 9.