LHC bench issues notices in case of four missing persons

DAG told to argue over jurisdiction of Rawalpindi bench to hear cases of Gujrat district

RAWALPINDI: The deputy attorney general has been issued notices over the arrest of four men and their subsequent disappearance. The official has been directed to appear before the court on February 12.

Lahore High Court – Rawalpindi bench’s Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin on Monday heard the case of four men who had been arrested from their home in Sarai-e-Alamgir before they disappeared.

While hearing the case, Justice Amin directed the deputy attorney general to argue the case on legal points that since the cases pertain to incidents which took place in the Gujrat district, which lies outside the jurisdiction of the Rawalpindi bench, can the court hear the petitions or not.

The counsel for the petitioners, Inamur Raheem contended that the case is against the federation. Moreover, he added that a five-member bench of the Rawalpindi bench has already heard the case.

Raheem argued that in the currency smuggling case involving supermodel Ayyan Ali, the case was registered and heard in Rawalpindi but she was granted bail from the Sindh High Court (SHC) in Karachi.

In that case, the Supreme Court had maintained that because that case was against the federation, it could be heard by the high court of any province and had dismissed the objection raised by the police. Similarly, the case of the missing people was against the federation.

The mother of two of the men picked up, Asmat Bibi, stated that her sons Abid Mahmood and Zahid Mahmood were sleeping at their home when officers from the Saddar police station of Sarai-e-Alamgir barged in and arrested them on December 20, 2017.

The local police never booked the men. Another two men were also arrested in similar circumstances.

The court was urged to direct the state to present the men in court.

The court issued notices to the DAG and directed him to appear on February 12.

FIA arrests man wanted for murder

A man, who had killed another man outside courts in Rawalpindi before fleeing abroad, was arrested after he returned to the country.

According to officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Noman Khan had allegedly killed Sattar Khan over personal enmity within the Rawalpindi Judicial Complex and had then fled to Dubai.

He was subsequently declared a wanted man and his name was placed in the exit control list.

When he landed at the Karachi Airport, he was arrested by the FIA.

He was transferred to Rawalpindi where he was handed over to the Civil Lines police. The police presented him before a special anti-terror court on Monday. The court granted police a five-day physical remand until February 9. Further, the court directed the Civil Lines police station SHO to complete his investigations until the next hearing and present a challan.

Man deported

A Nigerian man, imprisoned in the Adiala jail, was deported on Monday.

Mbaji Celestine, who was at the jail, was transferred to the new Islamabad International Airport (IIA) on Monday under the supervision of the assistant superintendent of the central jail. He was handed over to the airport authorities for deportation.

Celestine was booked to fly to Dubai from Islamabad on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight. However, since his ticket could not be sorted for onward travel to Lagos, he missed his flight. Later, when his travel documents were sorted, he was put on a private airlines flight to Dubai.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2019.