Untraceable: Wife of ‘missing’ naval officer knocks on IHC door

Sub Lt Sajjad was allegedly picked up by unidentified men in Karachi last year

ISLAMABAD: The wife of a naval officer has petitioned the Islamabad High Court (IHC) saying her husband has been missing ever since Naval Intelligence allegedly picked him up last year.

Safia Ismail has gone to the IHC claiming that her husband, Sub Lt Hafiz Ehsanullah Sajjad, was allegedly in the custody of naval authorities without any charges being leveled against him. She said Sajjad was taken away from his residence in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi by ‘some people in plain clothes’ on the evening of September 6, 2014.

Safia’s counsel Inamul Rahiem said Sajjad had sought permission from the Pakistan Navy to resign from service in July 2014 for personal reasons, adding his request remained under process before he was picked up.

Safia said her father, a retired Khateeb of Pakistan Navy, kept running from pillar to post to ascertain the whereabouts of his son but the entire naval chain of command maintained complete silence. A written request was also forwarded to the Chief of Naval Staff, DG Naval Intelligence and other relevant authorities for the release of her husband but it was never replied to, she stated.

While talking to The Express Tribune, Rahiem said it was later revealed to the petitioner’s father by his sources in the navy that Sajjad was in the custody of naval intelligence without any charge-sheet against him. The petitioner has contacted the entire chain of command in vain, he reiterated.

The second sign of Sajjad’s detention by authorities is the fact that his salary is being regularly transferred into his account since his disappearance, Rahiem said, explaining that naval officials are bound to do so in light of a judgment of the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court. It was ruled in a 1994 case that salaries would continuously be transferred even if the official was suspended or in custody till the case is settled, he said.

Under Section 60 of the Naval Ordinance, 1961, it is mandatory for authorities to deliver in writing, at the time of arrest, the offence with which the person is charged or do so within 48 hours of arrest, the petition said.

He maintained that the petitioner’s husband was being subjected to illegal actions not countenanced by the law or the fundamental guarantees under the Constitution.

Rahiem has prayed that the prolonged detention of the petitioner’s husband and the manner of the detention be declared illegal and in contravention of the naval ordinance if naval authorities failed to justify the legality of such a prolonged detention.

Interestingly, on the same day as Sajjad’s disappearance, terrorists attacked the Pakistan Navy dockyard in West Wharf, Karachi with alleged inside help.

Following the incident, details of which are still murky, several officials in the navy were reportedly held for their alleged involvement.

Rahiem, however, said he was not sure whether the incident was related to his client’s case, adding it would be unearthed during hearing, scheduled for June 12, if the authorities admit that Sajjad was in their custody and he had any link with the Karachi attack.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11^th, 2015.