News
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Defence secretary, FC IG, IGP get notices on missing personsStaff Report
QUETTA: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday issued notices to the defence secretary, IGP and FC IG on failing to cooperate with the court on the issue of missing persons. The court also ordered hand over of three officers of FC to investigation institutions for their failure to cooperate with the SC.
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court’s Quetta Registry, headed by Chief Justice Ifikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heard the Balochistan law and order case on the third consecutive day.
The court asked the authorities concerned to compile a list of missing persons de novo after screening them out.
Justice Chaudhry observed that improving law and order was not possible in Quetta and Karachi until the smuggling of weapons continued through Pak-Afghan Chaman border.
The chief justice ordered that the cases of missing persons should be screened out and those cases against which no concrete evidence are found should be enlisted in suspicious list of cases, adding that while those cases in which allegations go against police and FC should be handed over to additional attorney general.
The CJP also ordered the Balochistan home secretary to register cases of missing persons and hand them over to CID Police. He said that a list of missing persons should be handed over to the FC and Ministry of Defence so that they could search and bring them back.
Justice Jawad S Khwaja told the families of missing persons that they should also produce evidence before the court along with allegations.
The SC also ordered hand over of three officers of FC, including Major Saif, Major Abdul Waheed Multani and Major Moheen, to investigation institutions for their failure to cooperate with the court.
The CJP remarked that the defence secretary, FC IG and IGP were not cooperating with the court regarding these cases and added that the performance of CID Police was also unsatisfactory.
Meanwhile, the FBR chairman also appeared before the court and presented a report regarding smuggling across the Pak-Afghan border at Chaman.
The CJP referred to smuggling of weapons and vehicles at the border, and asked the FBR chief if he had ever bothered to visit Chaman.
The FBR chairman said that customs officials alone could not do anything upon which the CJP expressed his displeasure and remarked, “Close your institution then”.
The CJP told the FBR chairman that around 17,000 illegal vehicles were plying in the city and the bureau had done nothing so far, adding that markets of Quetta are stuffed with smuggled goods and Iranian petrol is being sold in Panjgur.
Justice Chaudhry said that weapons come from Afghanistan through Chaman border but no efforts are made to pre-empt their free movement across the border. He said that a huge devastation could be averted by spending a little amount on buying and installing scanners.
The CJP observed that if the country has to be saved from destruction, the institutions have to work with coordination. He also expressed his displeasure over the kidnapping of a cardiac surgeon, Dr Munaf Tareen, from Quetta the other day and stressed upon the authorities concerned to formulate a policy for pre-empting the acts of kidnapping for ransom.
The CJP observed that neither people were given protection nor were their basic rights protected.
Balochistan Chief Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fetah apprised the court about the situation of Dera Bugti and said that the family of late Nawab Akbar Bugti is being rehabilitated in Dera Bugti, adding that people were living peacefully there.
He said that the situation of Dera Bugti was being watched closely by the FC IG. The case was later adjourned for 10 days.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk