Despite court summons, military officers fail to show up
Wife argues the communications supervisor cannot be tried under the army act.
KARACHI:
Military officers have ignored a court summons in the hearing of a woman whose husband is being detained. Muhammad Azhar, who was working as a civilian communications supervisor since 2007, went for duty on May 12, 2010 but never came home. He has been in custody since then.
The absence of the military officers at the hearing on Tuesday, prompted the Sindh High Court’s bench of Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi to observe that this was tantamount to insubordination. “Obedience to [the] court, under Article 3 [of the Constitution of Pakistan] is [an] inviolable obligation of all individuals, authorities and state functionaries,” observed the bench on Tuesday. The military officers who were asked to appear for the hearing include the GOC Malir (of HQ 25, Mechanised Division) and the 901 Field Security Section.
Muhammad Azhar is a civilian employee of the 84 Signal Battalion, Signal Centre, Malir Garrison. His wife Amina Aslam filed a petition challenging his detention, which she says is illegal. This is her second petition.
The same bench disposed her first petition (1552/2010) with orders to the military authorities to provide Amina Aslam a copy of the charges against her detained husband, who was said to be facing a ‘Court of Inquiry’ under the Army Act of 1952.
But when Amina Aslam did not receive a list of charges against her husband, she filed a second petition. She now argues that as a civilian employee and a non-uniformed person, her husband cannot be charged and tried under the Army Act. She is being represented by Mehmood Habibullah.
Only the Deputy Attorney General, who was representing the federal government, showed up for the hearing on Tuesday. The bench noted that the respondents had been duly served and yet chose to ignore the orders of the court.
The bench took strict notice of this and in its order, that non-attendance “amounts to insubordination to the directions and orders of the court” said that contempt notice will be issued to the respondents.
On a verbal request from Amina Aslam, the court also ordered the military officers and other respondents to allow Muhammad Azhar’s family, sibilings and parents to meet him during Eidul Azha vacations at a reasonable time. The next hearing is on Nov 25.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2010.
Military officers have ignored a court summons in the hearing of a woman whose husband is being detained. Muhammad Azhar, who was working as a civilian communications supervisor since 2007, went for duty on May 12, 2010 but never came home. He has been in custody since then.
The absence of the military officers at the hearing on Tuesday, prompted the Sindh High Court’s bench of Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi to observe that this was tantamount to insubordination. “Obedience to [the] court, under Article 3 [of the Constitution of Pakistan] is [an] inviolable obligation of all individuals, authorities and state functionaries,” observed the bench on Tuesday. The military officers who were asked to appear for the hearing include the GOC Malir (of HQ 25, Mechanised Division) and the 901 Field Security Section.
Muhammad Azhar is a civilian employee of the 84 Signal Battalion, Signal Centre, Malir Garrison. His wife Amina Aslam filed a petition challenging his detention, which she says is illegal. This is her second petition.
The same bench disposed her first petition (1552/2010) with orders to the military authorities to provide Amina Aslam a copy of the charges against her detained husband, who was said to be facing a ‘Court of Inquiry’ under the Army Act of 1952.
But when Amina Aslam did not receive a list of charges against her husband, she filed a second petition. She now argues that as a civilian employee and a non-uniformed person, her husband cannot be charged and tried under the Army Act. She is being represented by Mehmood Habibullah.
Only the Deputy Attorney General, who was representing the federal government, showed up for the hearing on Tuesday. The bench noted that the respondents had been duly served and yet chose to ignore the orders of the court.
The bench took strict notice of this and in its order, that non-attendance “amounts to insubordination to the directions and orders of the court” said that contempt notice will be issued to the respondents.
On a verbal request from Amina Aslam, the court also ordered the military officers and other respondents to allow Muhammad Azhar’s family, sibilings and parents to meet him during Eidul Azha vacations at a reasonable time. The next hearing is on Nov 25.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 17th, 2010.