Colonel (retd) Inamur Rahim at the District Court in Rawalpindi. PHOTO COURTESY: NYT/FILE
Rahiem was whisked away last month – on Dec 16 – from his residence in Rawalpindi.
Later, the lawyer’s family approached the Rawalpindi Registry of the Lahore High Court (LHC) against what they termed as “abduction”.
However, the Ministry of Defence told the court on Thursday that Rahim was taken into the custody by the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and was currently being interrogated.
On Friday, Deputy Attorney General Sajid Ilyas Bhatti told the court that the lawyers was “formally arrested” under the Official Secrets Act, 1923.
Ex-colonel 'abducted for raising voice for missing persons'
The Official Secrets Act is an anti-espionage act and was enacted to consolidate and amend the laws relating to official secrets in Pakistan.
It states clearly the actions which involve helping an enemy state against the country.
“All the relevant formalities were completed before the arrest and Rahiem is now being interrogated. The court will be informed about the outcome of the inquiry once it is completed,” he said.
The petitioner’s counsels – Brigadier (retd) Wasif and Rana Abdul Qayum – urged the court to order release of lawyer from “illegal detention.”
The court, however, formally accepted their petition and issued notices to the federal government and the Ministry of Defence, asking them to submit their written replies by January 9.
The judge, Mirza Viqas Rauf also rejected the petitioners request to allow Rahim’s family meet him.
Inam Ur Rahim – a former serviceman – has been pleading cases of people tried by the military courts as well as missing persons.
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