Missing persons’ cases: PHC resolves to hold regular hearings

Most cases pending since 2012

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has decided to regularly hear the cases of missing persons in an effort to quickly dispose of these cases.

The court also directed the federal and provincial prosecutors to file their responses within the next 10 days.

The ruling was made by a division bench, headed by Justice Yahya Afridi, while hearing 68 petitions filed by the relatives of missing persons from across K-P.

When the hearing commenced on Wednesday, the bench was perturbed to hear that responses had not been filed by the federal interior and defence ministries or the provincial government.

Justice Afridi observed that hundreds of cases were pending because of the delay in submitting replies.

Deputy Attorney-General Musarratullah Jan said that seven fresh petitions had been filed in the PHC on Wednesday.

Observing that most cases were pending since 2012, he accused the provincial government of delaying the cases.

According to him, various law officers appeared in missing persons’ cases on behalf of the provincial government because of which these cases could not be properly pursued.

However, Additional Advocate-General Qaiser Ali Shah insisted that internment centres were not under actual control of the provincial government.

“The provincial government has appointed an official as the superintendent of each (internment) centre but its actual security is the responsibility of the federal government,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2016.