IHC reserves verdict in missing IT engineer’s case

Prosecution and defence conclude their arguments in the case on Friday

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Friday reserved judgment in the case of a software engineer who went missing from the capital nearly two years ago.

Justice Athar Minallah reserved judgment after the parties concluded their arguments in the case being heard since August 2016. The court would also decide pending application(s) along with the final judgment.

Sajid Mehmood, who ran a small software firm, had been abducted from his house located in Sector F-10 in front of his family and neighbours in March 2016.

His wife, Mahera Sajid, had filed a writ of habeas corpus in IHC through her counsel Umer Gilani. The court has repeatedly directed the police and security agencies to produce the missing software engineer in court. All such directions, though, have failed to produce the missing man in court.

Beside the safe recovery of her husband, Mahera has been demanding that the federal government should be held liable for gross negligence in discharging its duty to protect the liberty of her husband. As a consequence, she argued, the federal government should be made to pay her and her children a monthly maintenance.

In her application seeking maintenance from the government, Mahera stated that the monthly expenses of the dependents of the “missing person” in terms of children’s education, domestic help, utility bills, property tax, food, milk, internet and petrol stood at over Rs100,000.

She had urged the court to direct the secretary interior to provide the petitioner and her children maintenance amounting to no less than Rs117,500 per month and starting from March 14, 2016 – the day Mehmood had allegedly been ‘abducted’ from his home.

Earlier, Islamabad SP (Investigation) Capt (retired) Muhammad Ilyas had submitted a report before the court which had concluded that Mehmood appeared to be a victim of enforced disappearance. 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2018.