IHC judge pays surprise visit to GBM of lawyers; urges patience. PHOTO: EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD: An Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge on Friday remarked that the report of the investigating officer, the proceedings of the Missing Persons’ Commission, and allegations in a petition suggest that the case of a missing software engineer was one of “enforced disappearance”.
Hearing the case of Sajid Mehmood, a software engineer who had allegedly been picked up by uniformed men from outside his home in F-10 in March, Justice Athar Minallah asked three lawyers who were serving as amicus curiae (assistants for the judge), to suggest a course of action when a citizen goes missing and it appears to be an enforced disappearance.
Mahera Sajid, the missing engineer’s wife, through her counsel Umer Gilani had requested the IHC to direct the state to compensate the family for the time it takes to recover her husband.
Justice Mihallah asked: “Who in the state apparatus should be held responsible for violation of [a citizen’s] fundamental rights?”
Islamabad High Court Bar Association president Tariq Jahangiri said that the case shows a lack of commitment by state agencies and the SHO of the concerned police station, but also on the relevant SP and the IG should be penalised.
Lawyer Babar Sattar cited verdicts by courts in Pakistan, India, and Latin America where the state paid compensation to missing persons and their relatives. A research brief by former law minister Ahmer Bilal Soofi was also submitted before the court.
Meanwhile, a standing counsel representing the federal government requested the court to grant time to submit their reply in the case. The court accepted his request and adjourned the case till November 18.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th, 2016.
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