Interior ministry, ICT admin put on notice for contempt

The secretary of the federal interior ministry, the Islamabad Capital Territory administration and the chief of police in the federal capital have all been put on notice for contempt for not following court orders to provide compensation to the family of a missing person.

The notices were issued on Thursday by a single-member bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah as he heard a contempt petition filed by the wife of the missing person, software engineer Sajid Mehmood who had been abducted from his house in the bustling Sector F-10, in front of his family and neighbours in March 2016.

Sajid’s wife, Mahera, told the court through her counsel, Haider Imtiaz, that the court had given four directions in its landmark verdict issued two years ago, including for the government to bear the monthly expenses of the missing person’s family until such a time that the person is recovered.

Moreover, Imtiaz said that the court had imposed a fine of Rs0.1 million each on the IGP, secretary of the federal defence ministry and Islamabad deputy commissioner.

However, he asserted that the federal government had yet to implement even ‘a word of it’. At this, Chief Justice Minallah asked whether his decision of 2018 had been challenged anywhere.

At this, the counsel responded that the order was challenged but its directives were not declared as suspended.

Reiterating that the court had ordered the state to pay monthly compensation to the heirs of the missing person until his recovery, Imtiaz said that neither has the victim been recovered nor has his client received a single penny so far.

At this, the court issued notices to the secretary of the federal interior ministry, the Islamabad deputy commissioner (DC) and IGP.

The court further ordered the interior secretary to appoint a representative to attend subsequent proceedings of the case and identify the officials who have been hindering the implementation of the court's orders.

Should the representative fail to satisfy the court, CJ Minallah said that the secretary will be asked to appear in person before the bench.

Further hearings in the case were then adjourned until October 1.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2020.