The federation’s lawyer: Missing persons case top priority for ‘temporary AGP’

Akram Sheikh slated to replace Salman Aslam Butt when treason case concludes.

ISLAMABAD:

The ‘missing’ persons’ case pending in the Supreme Court is believed to be the biggest challenge for Salman Aslam Butt, the new attorney general of Pakistan.

A senior government official told The Express Tribune that Butt’s appointment has been made on a temporary basis and that Advocate Akram Sheikh, known to be a close confidante of premier Nawaz Sharif, is expected to replace him after the high treason case against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf winds to a close. Currently, Sheikh is the lead public prosecutor in the trial.



A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, is set to resume the hearing regarding the implementation of the apex court’s December 10, 2013 order about the production of 35 missing persons on January 20 (Monday).

It has also been learnt that the newly appointed federation lawyer convened a special meeting in this regard and has been preoccupied with evolving a final strategy for the last two days.

Officials within the AGP office said it was decided that Additional Attorney General of Pakistan Tariq Khokhar would appear before the court in the enforced disappearances case tomorrow (Monday). They also said that the newly appointed AGP has expressed complete confidence in Khokhar’s abilities to deal with the case.

On January 10, the SC directed the prime minister and the chief minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) to submit their replies explaining why the judgment had not been complied with. A notice was also issued to Law Secretary Barrister Zafarullah Khan.



A senior official in the AGP office said that it was a misperception that the SC would give less attention to the ‘missing’ persons’ case after the retirement of former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, and that the January 10 order had proved that the court was in no mood to give any relaxation to the civilian and military leadership in this matter.

Another official revealed that since July 2013, due to the SC’s daily proceedings, more than 800 missing persons were traced from different internment centres and that as many as 100 families had met with their loves ones in internment centres.

Sources privy to the development revealed that the military establishment was unhappy with the conduct of former attorney general Munir A Malik in this case as he had opposed the stance of the military intelligence (MI) in the Abida Malik case and argued that the police could arrest any serving army officer involved in disappearances. They said that the ‘missing’ persons’ case was one of the reasons behind his resignation.

Munir A Malik had also rejected the defence ministry’s request to transfer the cases from Khokhar to any other senior law officer. The defence ministry had written a letter to the former AGP, saying that Khokhar had misquoted the defence secretary about a fact which was never stated by him in the ‘missing’ persons’ case.

“The conduct of the additional AG is against professional ethics and may cause damage to the service interest. This has caused lack of trust in the AAG,” the letter further said. Khokhar submitted a written reply to the former AGP that the contents of the ministry’s letter are incorrect.

Talking to the media after taking charge on Friday, Butt rejected reports that his appointment was based on nepotism and said that he has no close relationship with PM Nawaz.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2014.