SC tells govt to present missing persons on Dec 5
Apex court tells defence additional secretary to 'save the government’s dignity and obey court orders.'
Apex court tells defence additional secretary to 'save the government’s dignity and obey court orders.' PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the government to either present missing persons before the court or provide concrete details about their whereabouts on December 5, Express News reported.
The court had earlier given one-hour deadline to the government, however, this was extended as defence authorities failed to produce the missing persons.
A three-member bench heard the case in Islamabad under the supervision of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Earlier during the hearing, the defence ministry’s additional secretary informed the court about the whereabouts of three more missing persons and requested the bench to keep the identity of two persons a complete secret as their lives might be under a threat. The secretary added that the government is working hard to trace all the missing persons.
The chief justice said that the revelations made by the government time to time point out that it knows everything about the missing persons but is not informing the court. “Save the government’s dignity and obey court orders,” he told the additional secretary.
Defence secretary Khawaja Asif also informed the bench that he has met the prime minister before coming to the court and that they have discussed about formulating a law related to the issue.
The bench reiterated its stance and told Asif that it can give him a written order as well to speed up the work.
The court adjourned the hearing till December 5 and asked IG FC to appear before the bench in the next hearing.
While speaking to the media after the hearing ended, Asif said he respects court orders and will try to present definite updates on the issue in the next hearing.
Refusing to give specific details because of the sensitivity of the issue, Asif said all missing persons have not been located as they are reportedly kept in internment centres spread across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
In a previous hearing, the court had asked the government to present 33 out of 35 missing persons at 11:30am today, after it was informed that two of the missing persons had died in custody.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the government to either present missing persons before the court or provide concrete details about their whereabouts on December 5, Express News reported.
The court had earlier given one-hour deadline to the government, however, this was extended as defence authorities failed to produce the missing persons.
A three-member bench heard the case in Islamabad under the supervision of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Earlier during the hearing, the defence ministry’s additional secretary informed the court about the whereabouts of three more missing persons and requested the bench to keep the identity of two persons a complete secret as their lives might be under a threat. The secretary added that the government is working hard to trace all the missing persons.
The chief justice said that the revelations made by the government time to time point out that it knows everything about the missing persons but is not informing the court. “Save the government’s dignity and obey court orders,” he told the additional secretary.
Defence secretary Khawaja Asif also informed the bench that he has met the prime minister before coming to the court and that they have discussed about formulating a law related to the issue.
The bench reiterated its stance and told Asif that it can give him a written order as well to speed up the work.
The court adjourned the hearing till December 5 and asked IG FC to appear before the bench in the next hearing.
While speaking to the media after the hearing ended, Asif said he respects court orders and will try to present definite updates on the issue in the next hearing.
Refusing to give specific details because of the sensitivity of the issue, Asif said all missing persons have not been located as they are reportedly kept in internment centres spread across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
In a previous hearing, the court had asked the government to present 33 out of 35 missing persons at 11:30am today, after it was informed that two of the missing persons had died in custody.