Adiala 11: SC seeks K-P governor reply on not entertaining prisoner applications
Court seeks reply from K-P AG by May 24.
ISLAMABAD:
While hearing the case of 11 missing prisoners of Adiala Jail, the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday lauded the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) provincial assembly’s resolution, which sought the extension of SC jurisdiction to the tribal areas.
Hearing the case in Islamabad, the SC sought a reply from the K-P Governor for not entertaining the application of the two of the seven surviving Adiala Jail missing prisoners. Four prisoners had died while in custody of intelligence agencies - Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence (MI).
The prisoners were kept in a K-P internment centre under the Action in Aid of Civil Powers Ordinance-2011. As per regulations, the governor of the province is the internment authority, or any officer nominated by him.
The court observed that the regulations were introduced in 2011 while the issue of the 11 missing prisoners was pending since 2010, they were kept in custody for 18 months but were not tried under the Army Act.
Advocate Tariq Asad, the counsel for the two missing prisoners Abdul Majid and Abdul Basit, told the court that they had filed an application on April 25 before the internment authority, but no action was taken to date.
Asad also submitted before the court that jurisdiction was not an issue since the prisoners were arrested from Adiala Jail which is located in Rawalpindi.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry asked Advocate General K-P Waqasullah Chamkani to submit a comprehensive reply, after consulting the relevant authorities.
The court further questioned why was the concerned internment authority not entertaining the applications submitted by the relatives of the prisoners, even though special arrangements had been made in this regard. “Why don’t you people implement the laws which are created by you,” the chief justice asked Advocate General K-P.
The court directed the Advocate General K-P to submit reply on May 24.
While hearing the case of 11 missing prisoners of Adiala Jail, the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday lauded the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) provincial assembly’s resolution, which sought the extension of SC jurisdiction to the tribal areas.
Hearing the case in Islamabad, the SC sought a reply from the K-P Governor for not entertaining the application of the two of the seven surviving Adiala Jail missing prisoners. Four prisoners had died while in custody of intelligence agencies - Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence (MI).
The prisoners were kept in a K-P internment centre under the Action in Aid of Civil Powers Ordinance-2011. As per regulations, the governor of the province is the internment authority, or any officer nominated by him.
The court observed that the regulations were introduced in 2011 while the issue of the 11 missing prisoners was pending since 2010, they were kept in custody for 18 months but were not tried under the Army Act.
Advocate Tariq Asad, the counsel for the two missing prisoners Abdul Majid and Abdul Basit, told the court that they had filed an application on April 25 before the internment authority, but no action was taken to date.
Asad also submitted before the court that jurisdiction was not an issue since the prisoners were arrested from Adiala Jail which is located in Rawalpindi.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry asked Advocate General K-P Waqasullah Chamkani to submit a comprehensive reply, after consulting the relevant authorities.
The court further questioned why was the concerned internment authority not entertaining the applications submitted by the relatives of the prisoners, even though special arrangements had been made in this regard. “Why don’t you people implement the laws which are created by you,” the chief justice asked Advocate General K-P.
The court directed the Advocate General K-P to submit reply on May 24.