SHC seeks reports on missing persons’ cases

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has ordered the Home department, the provincial police chief, and others to submit reports on petitions seeking recovery of missing persons.

A two-member SHC bench, headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, heard petitions seeking the recovery of Muhammad Anees, Imran, Muhammad Alam, Tahir Zaman, Kashif Ali, Babar and Zulfiqar.

The lawyer for one of the petitioners submitted before the bench that his client, Tahir Zaman, went missing from the Karachi Central Jail soon after his release.

Justice Phulpoto remarked that the bench had not seen serious effort from the police to recover the missing persons. When we ask for a progress report, we are told that a letter has been written, he said. "Despite dozens of meetings of Joint Investigation Teams (JITs), the missing persons have not been traced."

The judge ordered that the investigation officers request complete data from detention centres and also obtain travel histories of the missing persons. He ordered that the federal secretaries of Interior and Defence to assist in the recovery of the missing persons.

"Enforced disappearance of citizens is a serious issue and every effort should be made to recover them," the judge remarked while directing the Sindh Home Department, the IG Sindh, and others to submit reports on March 17.

Meanwhile, another two-member SHC bench, headed by Chief Justice Ahmad Ali Shaikh, took up a petition regarding the condition of the building at a government-run school on Jahangir Road.

The petitioner stated that the students' futures were at stake due to the apathy of the administrators.

Ban sought on entry of heavy traffic

The Sindh High Court heard a plea seeking a ban on the entry of heavy traffic in the city and sought response from the Karachi commissioner and senior members of the Land department.

The National Highway Authority (NHA) and the Traffic Engineering Bureau were made parties to the case.

The court observed that it wanted the top court’s order to be implemented in letter and spirit. In 2007, the Supreme Court had barred heavy vehicles from entering the city during the daytime. The timings were set from 6am to 11pm.

Transporters request the court to permit ten-wheel vehicles transporting essential commodities to enter the city during that time. The court turned down the request, saying there would be no exceptions to the top court order. The court ordered the concerned officers of the revenue department and the engineering bureau to appear in the court at the next hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2023.