Missing persons case: PM, COAS bound to follow court orders, says CJ

Supreme Court adjourns hearing till December 5.

ISLAMABAD:

The chief justice on Tuesday dismissed the defence secretary’s move to provide details of just three out of the 33 missing persons in court as “peanuts”.

During the hearing of the case of 33 persons believed to be held by the military, CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry censured acting Defence Secretary Major General Arif Nazir, saying that the court would act sternly if the missing persons were not produced by December 5. The court had earlier asked the government to present 33 out of 35 missing persons at 11:30am on Tuesday, after it was informed that two of the missing persons had died in custody.

“Don’t give us this lollypop. The prime minister and army chief are bound to follow this court’s orders. We are not sitting idle here,” the top judge said, adding that no one can circumvent an order to give details to the apex court.



“If you are wondering what this court can do if orders are not followed, then people will see what it can do,” the chief justice warned. The three-member bench asked the defence authorities to either present all the men said to be in detention before the court, or provide concrete details about their whereabouts by December 5.

Justice Jawwad S Khawaja maintained that the Supreme Court has names of army officials involved in the enforced disappearances, but added, “we have kept them confidential so far”. He also said that this case will be pursued even after CJ Chaudhry’s retirement.

When the chief justice asked Nazir the names of the officials responsible for the disappearances, he responded “I am responsible.” The chief justice reprimanded him for this reply and said he could not address the court in an “arrogant manner”.

The court had earlier given a one-hour deadline to the defence officials, however, this was extended to Thursday on the request of the attorney general as defence authorities failed to produce the missing persons.

Nazir informed the court about the whereabouts of three more missing persons and requested the bench to keep the identity of two persons secret as their lives might be under a threat. The secretary added that the government is working hard to trace the missing persons but that the trace is “dangerous and time consuming”. The chief justice said the court is aware that the defence authorities have knowledge of the missing persons, and cannot ignore the additional attorney general and Lakki Marwat jail Superintendent Attaullah’s statements that missing persons are in the custody of the army since January 2012. The court also asked for the registration of cases against those responsible for the “custodial death” of two missing persons.

“Save the government’s dignity and obey court orders,” CJ Chaudhry told the acting defence secretary.

In his address to the court, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the institutions are in a ‘rehabilitation phase’ due to the destructive polices of the last 13 years,  and requested that the court allow some time to resolve the issue.

Asif also informed the bench that in his meeting with the prime minister before the hearing, a discussion was held on formulating a law on the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2013.