Justice Mohsan Akhtar Kiani acquitted Nomi as his counsel argued that nothing was recovered from his client. PHOTO: EXPRESS
She has also demanded a point-by-point comparison of the efforts made by the government in recovering her husband.
Sajid Mehmood, a software engineer who ran a small IT company in the capital along with his wife, had allegedly been abducted from his home in F-10/1 on the evening of March 14. Gilani had stated that he had been picked up “amidst circumstances which strongly suggest that this is a case of enforced disappearance.”
His wife Mahera Sajid, through her counsel Umer Gilani, contended before Justice Athar Minallah that state institutions had failed to perform their constitutional duties and recover her husband, Sajid Mehmood. She added several months had passed but there was still no sign of him.
As respondents, she had named Shalimar SHO, Islamabad IGP, secretaries of interior and defence as well as director generals of the Intelligence Bureau, Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence.
Maintenance
On Friday, Mahera filed two separate applications seeking the court’s help to get maintenance.
Gilani said that Mehmood’s dependents are facing severe financial constraints due to the respondents’ failure to trace him. “The family has lost its breadwinner,” the counsel stated.
The counsel contended that the family – the petitioner and her three daughters – were unable to withdraw money from Mehmood’s account. The lawyer stated that the household now feels extremely insecure as there is no male member.
The applications revealed that the monthly expenses of the dependents of the missing person for children’s education, domestic help, utility bills, property tax, food, milk, internet and petrol was Rs100,000.
He requested the court to direct the interior secretary to provide the petitioner and her daughters with maintenance amounting to no less than Rs117,500 per month. He said that payment should be backlogged to March 12, 2016 — the day Mehmood was allegedly ‘abducted’ from his house.
On account of the continuing failure to recover Mahera’s husband, Gilani asked that the respondents be held responsible to provide dependents of the missing person with reasonable maintenance which should be paid until Mehmood is recovered.
Details of efforts
In the applications, Mahera asked the IHC to direct the respondents to file a detailed report on the raids they had conducted, searches, documentary seizures and call-tracking among other efforts to recover the Sindh High Court Chief Justice’s son, Barrister Owais Shah. She then asked the court to make a point-by-point comparison with measures taken to recover her husband.
Mahera further urged the court to appoint a truly independent and forensically skilled commission to investigating the case. She added the body should be empowered to search offices of the respondents, seize documents, electronic records and examine the oath of the relevant officials.
Gilani maintained that despite various directions from the court, the respondents failed to produce Mehmood. She also asked the court to order a departmental inquiry against the IGP and SHO for not registering a case of disappearance for four months.
The interior ministry had suggested that Mahera seek a remedy through the commission. However, the petitioner said she had no solid reason to expect adequate and satisfactory relief from the federal government as the interior ministry appointed members of the commission.
“The [federal government] itself is an interested party in cases of enforced disappearance and in whom the petitioner has little confidence,” the petition stated. About the Ministry of Defence and intelligence agencies, Gilani said that with the exception of IB, the “denials” issued were “evasive and not specific”.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 5th, 2016.
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