The federal government has been given two months by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to take action to ensure the return of missing people.
“No official has done their job […] we will hold everyone responsible if another missing persons case is filed in this court,” IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah said while hearing a case of missing persons, including journalist Mudassar Naro.
The IHC had instructed the federal government to notify the current prime minister and all other predecessors, including the former president Pervaiz Musharraf, in situations of missing persons.
After the petitions for journalist Naro and five other people were scheduled for final arguments, the IHC CJ delivered a 15-page order in the matter, but the federal government asked for an adjournment in May. The government was required by the IHC to ensure that the missing people are found by June 17; but, ever since, the authorities have been asking for extensions, alleging various justifications.
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The IHC had issued a caution in July stating that it would notify Shehbaz Sharif if the missing persons were not found. Not only was the prime minister called before the court at today’s session, but also the interior minister Rana Sanaullah and the law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar.
The IHC CJ Minallah postponed the hearing to November 14 in response to the law minister’s request for further time and at least two months to resolve the matter.
Today’s hearing
IHC CJ Minallah informed PM Shehbaz at the beginning of the session that the case has worried the court since it involves a significant problem. The chief justice of the IHC commented that the state is not acting in accordance with its obligation.
IHC CJ Minallah observed, “This country was ruled for nine years by a chief executive who proudly declared in his book that he sold his people overseas.” He claimed that it appeared to be “state policy.”
The commission was established to examine the issue of missing persons, but the procedures were painful, the IHC chief justice stated. “The court considered it appropriate to tell you [premier] what the matter genuinely is,” he added.
He asserted that the state is in charge of alleviating the anguish of the relatives of missing persons. The missing people will be reunited with their families, PM Shehbaz informed the IHC.