Balochistan law and order case: Top court orders production of missing men today

Regrets that no taskforce has been formed by govt.

QUETTA:

The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday ordered to present missing persons from Balochistan by tomorrow.

The three-judge SC bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was hearing the Balochistan law and order case at Quetta Supreme Court Registry.

The CJ said the issue of missing persons had great importance for Balochistan and the missing persons’ families, who stood outside the court.

“These people have pinned their hopes on the Supreme Court,” the CJ said, adding that the court did not want to demoralise the armed forces but also could not allow any unlawful act.

“The Crime Investigation Department (CID) has presented its report about a missing person, Abdul Malik, and the evidences go against Frontier Corps (FC),” he added.

The chief justice ordered the additional attorney general to ensure that the FC personnel who had whisked away Abdul Malik should be presented before the court.

He regretted that no taskforce or policy had been formed for the recovery of missing persons by the federal and provincial governments.

“The country has been pushed towards mishaps.... The only solution to the problem is to bring the missing persons back,” the CJ said.

Chief justice also expressed his displeasure over the reluctance of some officers to perform duties in Balochistan and ordered that such personnel be asked to submit their refusals in writing. Earlier Balochistan Chief Secretary informed the court that many officers had refused to work in Balochistan.

He also asked Additional Attorney General (AAG) Shah Khawar as to when the provincial governments were going to hold their local bodies’ elections. The AAG sought some time in this regard.

The CJ also inquired from customs officials about the smuggling of goods and weapons through Chaman border and asked them to bring all the records of the smuggled goods and people on a daily basis. The court also observed that customs authorities had failed to control smuggling of vehicles.

“No scanners have been installed at the border and no efforts made to stop these practices,” the court observed.

The court was adjourned till tomorrow.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2013.