Legal glitch: On what grounds was Mullah Baradar released, asks PHC

Claims foreign spy agencies are trying to conspire against judiciary.

PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan on Thursday questioned on what legal grounds Afghan Taliban’s second-in-command Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was released.

Justice Khan made the comments during the hearing of around 184 petitions related to missing persons from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and the tribal areas by a division bench comprising himself and Justice Qaiser Rashid. As in previous hearings, relatives of missing persons eagerly waited outside the courtroom to hear of the latest developments.

Justice Khan stressed the present situation will not improve unless there is rule of law in the country. He also asked under what law of the land was the senior Afghan Taliban commander released by the Pakistani government.

Pakistan announced Baradar’s release on September 20, but some insiders claim he is still kept in a safe house and closely watched by his Pakistani handlers.

“The court has to remand any accused to prison. Apart from the intervention of the court, no one has the authority to release [prisoners]. All such acts were carried out due to foreign pressure; foreign spy agencies used our own agencies for a big conspiracy against the judiciary,” claimed the PHC chief justice, adding such conspiracies would not be successful.

Safeguarding basic human rights

Additional Attorney General Syed Atiq Shah informed the bench the government was taking the matter of missing persons “very seriously” and a federal task force led by additional interior secretary has been constituted for this purpose.

Shah added the task force has chalked out a national policy regarding missing persons and has also been given the responsibility to monitor and take all stakeholders into account. He stressed the government did not want to violate Articles 9 and 10 of the Constitution which pertain to basic human rights.

Justice Khan, however, remained unimpressed, saying subcommittees are constituted whenever any work is not done properly. Justice Rashid, on the other hand, maintained the issue breeds more terrorists when bodies of missing persons are found.

In his response, the additional attorney general said the matter was a top priority for the government and all stakeholders have been taken into confidence to resolve the matter. Upon this, Justice Khan said there would be many stakeholders not willing to divulge the facts.

Later, Additional Advocate General Naveed Akhtar presented a report in the court, revealing 50 people have been shifted to internment centres of the province, following which the bench ordered PHC’s additional registrar to separate these cases from the list of missing persons.

The court also ordered the suggestions of the federal task force be followed and solutions to the problem be identified because such cases were on the rise, with many accusing security forces and secret agencies of enforced disappearances.

The bench added if a positive report is not presented to the court it will constitute a larger bench to look into the authority of security forces in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and semi-tribal areas of the province, and to know the legal status of the Action in Aid of Civil Power Regulation.

The court then fixed December 10 as the next date for hearing. Police officials, however, were directed not to appear before the court in the event they are summoned due to their security obligations during the month of Muharram.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2013.