Custodial killing: Sessions judge ordered to act on murder application

Rahat Hussain was earlier said to have been killed in a police encounter.

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday ordered a district and sessions judge to do the needful on the application filed by relatives of a previously missing person over his alleged custodial killing in order to charge those responsible.

The order was issued by a division bench comprising PHC Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth while hearing around 49 petitions of enforced disappearances.

Additional Attorney General (AAG) Syed Attique Shah, Deputy Attorney General Mazoor Khalil, Additional Advocate General Waqar Ahmad, Home and Tribal Affairs Deputy Secretary Usman Zaman and Major Muhammad Ali of the Ministry of Defence appeared before the court.

Counsel for petitioner Mairaj Bibi, Muhammad Isa Khan told the bench Rahat Hussain was picked up on February 15, 2012 from Mustafa Town, Lahore and later shifted to Peshawar. A police report stated Hussain was killed in an encounter on the night of February 22.

Khan also the told the court former PHC chief justice Dost Muhammad Khan subsequently ordered an enquiry on February 29 which was conducted by additional district and sessions judge Ahmad Sultan Tareen.

“The conclusion of the said enquiry revealed the death did not occur from an encounter with the police. Rather, it was a custodian killing.

An application was sent to the sessions judge under Section 22-A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) but was sent back to the high court,” contended the petitioner’s counsel.

The court then ordered the inclusion of the enquiry which was sent to the district sessions judge, who instead of passing an order under Section 22-A of the CrPC, had sent it back to the PHC. It said it was the judge’s prerogative to pass an appropriate order and directed him to do the needful within 15 days.

In other cases, AAG Syed Attique Shah told the bench they had requested the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan to constitute a larger bench for hearing all missing persons’ cases.

He added once detainees are detected they are no longer missing persons.

The chief justice reiterated that detaining people without charges was unlawful and that no progress regarding detainees in various centres has been provided. “At least the court should know what is happening in these cases.”

Shah then said that medical facilities have been provided to detainees as per the directions of the Supreme Court. “We provide information to the SC in sealed envelopes if it contains any sensitive information.”

Additional Advocate General Waqar Ahmad informed the bench the home and tribal affairs department secretary has convened a meeting of all relevant departments today (Wednesday) to look into matters pertaining to detainees in various internment centres and reports of oversight boards.

The bench also put on notice secretaries of federal ministries of defence and interior to appear in person at the next date of hearing and inform the court about the progress on missing persons’ cases.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11^th, 2014.