Will summon PM if prisoner not produced from detention centre: CJP Gulzar

SC adjourns hearing till tomorrow

ISLAMABAD:

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed said on Monday that the Supreme Court (SC) will summon the prime minister if the prisoner, Arif Gull, was not produced before the court from the detention centre.

A three-member bench headed by the CJP heard the case against the detention of detainee Arif Gull, who had been accused of attacking a military camp near the Afghan border area.

"Arif Gull is in the detention centre and it is difficult to bring him," the additional attorney general replied when the chief justice asked him if he had brought the accused.

The top judge further asked if the SC would 'crumble' had the accused been produced before the court.

"Seal the courts, if he is not produced," the top judge remarked. "The court also has the power to summon the defence leadership," he added.

Grilling the additional attorney general further, CJP Gulzar asked, "why Gull's citizenship's issue had not been resolved? The matter has been under investigation since 2019."

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The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) advocate general remarked that Gull's counselling and vocational training had been completed in the detention centre.

"Is the law under which Arif Gull was kept in the detention centre now legal?" bench member Justice Jamal Mandokhel asked, adding that "FATA has now been merged with K-P."

The top court rejected the additional attorney general and K-P advocate general's request for respite.

The K-P advocate general prayed before the apex court that the accused could not be produced today as the commute was long. On this, the CJP adjourned the hearing till tomorrow.