PHC disposes of petition seeking recovery of missing young man

Acting Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), Justice SM Attiq Shah, has disposed of a petition seeking the recovery of a missing young man from Peshawar.

The court informed the petitioner that he has the right to file a case against any institution or individual if he wishes to do so.

During the hearing, the Chief Justice stated that the court's jurisdiction is limited and that institutions had been ordered to submit reports regarding the case. The submitted reports were presented before the petitioner.

The Chief Justice noted that the institutions claimed they had no information about the missing person.

Additional Advocate General Inam Yousafzai, Deputy Attorney General Obaidullah Anwar, the petitioner, and his lawyer appeared before the court.

The petitioner stated that his 25-year-old brother had been missing for a year and was arrested before being taken away in a double-cabin vehicle in front of him.

At the time, the police had informed him that the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) was responsible for the arrest.

The Additional Advocate General stated that a report had been submitted, confirming that the missing individual was not in police custody. Similarly, the Deputy Attorney General informed the court that reports from federal and security agencies also confirmed that the missing person was not in their custody.

The Acting Chief Justice reiterated that the court's jurisdiction is limited and that the institutions involved had denied holding the missing person.

The court emphasized that no one could be taken away without justification.

The petitioner further stated that a CTD officer was killed in November 2019, and his brother had initially been named as an accused but was later declared innocent by the court.

He also alleged that the slain officer's sons had fired shots at him.

Justice SM Attiq Shah remarked that the situation is now different from the past and noted that the parties had not presented all relevant facts before the court. The reports submitted by the institutions were placed before the concerned parties.

The court advised the petitioner that he could file a case against any institution or individual if he wished and subsequently disposed of the petition.