Missing persons’ case: ISI chief ordered to appear in court

Woman files petition, alleging that ISI officials detained her spouse.

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has summoned the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) chief, Lt-Gen Zaheerul Islam, with his reply to a petition filed by relatives of a missing person.

Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan on Monday ordered the director-general of the ISI to appear in court next week.

The petition was filed by Parveen Bibi, a resident of Rawalpindi, seeking the recovery of her husband, who went missing last December. She has alleged that ISI officials have kept her husband in detention.

The petitioner’s counsel, Muhammad Zafarul Hassan, maintained that on December 17 last year, his client Muhammad Arif went to Khushab district to attend the funeral of his father’s colleague. Arif’s friends, named Ishtiaq Ahmed, Azizul Hassan, and Hafiz Abdul Rauf, had accompanied him. However, his client never returned home.

The counsel informed the court that after the incident, two of the friends – Ishtiaq Ahmed and Azizul Hassan – returned and claimed that ISI officials have detained Arif. He said the police had registered an FIR in Khushab, but it has failed to recover his client.

The counsel informed the court that his client is a law-abiding citizen and he was never involved in any illegal activities. He said Arif is running two private schools in the name of Darul Arqam in Rawalpindi city and besides that, he has his own printing business in Saddar area.

He requested the court to accept the petition and order the ISI chief to produce his client before court.

During the proceedings, Raja Khalid, the standing counsel representing the federal government, requested time to file a reply. However, the court ordered the ISI DG to appear in person in a week and adjourned the hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th, 2014.