The Sindh High Court sought on Tuesday the provincial government's written reply on a plea challenging the appointment of advisers and assistants in the government, warning the party of issuing a verdict on the plea anyhow in case the party failed to comply with the directive.
In the plea, heard by a two-member bench headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and comprising Justice Amjad Ali Sahito, the petitioner maintained that aides and adviser continued to attend cabinet meetings, which was "illegal."
When the Sindh government failed to submit a reply on the plea, the court, expressing dismay, questioned, "Why is the government submitting a reply?"
It warned of issuing notices to all the parties in case the government did not submit a reply.
At this, the assistant advocate general argued that the Supreme Court (SC) had suspended the Sindh High Court orders of terminating advisers, and therefore, the plea was no longer maintainable.
In turn, the petitioner contended that the plea in which the SC had suspended the orders was a separate one, specifically pertaining to the appointment of Murtaza Wahab.
Adjourning the hearing, the court directed the Sindh government to submit a written reply on the plea, warning that it would issue a verdict anyhow otherwise.
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Missing persons cases
Meanwhile, a bench comprising Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto and Justice Abdul Mobeen Lakho disposed of five pleas seeking the recovery of missing persons after it was informed by the petitioners of the return of three persons, namely Sikandar, Sahil and Sarfaraz.
Besides, Counter Terrorism Department officials told the court that one of the missing persons, Salman and Anis Abbas, had been arrested.
The remaining missing person, Salman, appeared before the court with his mother at the hearing.
At the hearing of another plea, also pertaining to the recovery of missing persons, the court directed law enforcement agencies to employ all available resources for the purpose and sought a progress report from the investigation officer (IO).
Expressing annoyance at delays in the recovery of missing persons, the court also sought progress reports on the matter from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's detention centres and the secretary of the Ministry of Interior.
Separately, while hearing another plea relating to missing persons, the court directed the federal government to provide complete assistance to the provincial governments for the recovery of missing persons.
The counsel for the family of missing person Asad Iqbal told the court that Iqbal had gone missing from Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
Following that, the court issued a show-cause notice to the IO over the non-recovery of Iqbal.
Moreover, the court also directed the relevant authorities to get advertisements published in newspapers for the recovery of minor girl Mariam, who went missing in 2011.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 10th, 2021.
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