File photo of Pakistan army soldiers. PHOTO: FILE
Expressing apprehensions over the Supreme Court judgment in the missing persons’ case, the ministry of defence on Saturday filed a review petition in the top court.
Additional Attorney General of Pakistan Shah Khawar moved the petition under Article 188 of the Constitution, requesting the apex court to expunge its remarks against Pakistan Army and intelligence agencies from its December 10, 2013 order in the interest of the country.
The defence authorities stated that the December 10, 2013 order could have profound national and international implications that might be detrimental to the federation of Pakistan.
The ministry argued that shifting the responsibility of enforced disappearances to Pakistan Army would demoralise the troops, which were fighting against terrorism in different areas of the country, including Swat and Malakand.
One day before his retirement, CJ Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry – heading the three-judge bench – had authored a 20-page judgment on the case of 35 detainees, including Yasin Shah, who had gone missing on December 4, 2012 after the military authorities had apparently taken them into custody from an internment centre in Malakand.
The petition raised objection over the list of 35 undeclared internees, and said the statement of the superintendent judicial lockup Malakand had not been substantiated by the internment centre’s records.
It said the petitioner had not been given the opportunity to cross-examine the superintendent in this case and without probe, Pakistan Army could not have been held responsible for the enforced disappearance of 35 people.
The review petition stated that the court did not consider that the army was functioning in the conflict zone under Article 245 of the Constitution as well as Action in Aid of Civil Power Regulation 2011. “During exercise of such constitutional duties, the jurisdiction of high courts and Supreme Court are suspended,” it added.
The ministry also raised serious objection over the court to highlight the UN Convention against Enforced Disappearance 2006 in its December 10, 2013 order and stated that Pakistan had not ratified the UN convention.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 19th, 2014.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ