Islamabad :
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued notices to the federal government for unannounced approval of a policy on enforced disappearances of former President (retd) General Pervez Musharraf and all his successors, including Imran Khan and current Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. Directed.
According to media reports, Chief Justice of the High Court Athar Minallah had on Sunday issued a 15-page order in the case of disappearance of journalist Mudassar Mahmood Naro and five others and their petitions were fixed for final arguments. The federal government requested that the hearing be adjourned.
In the case of Rana Muhammad Ikram v. Federation of Pakistan, the Chief Justice said that “retired General Pervez Musharraf and all the successor Chief Executives ie former and present Prime Ministers will submit their respective affidavits”.
He directed that the affidavits state that the court may endanger national security by approving a policy on unannounced enforced disappearances against them and thus allowing the involvement of law enforcement agencies, especially the armed forces. Why can’t it order action for alleged violation of the constitution?
He said that Pervez Musharraf had clearly admitted in his autobiography “In the Line of Fire” that “enforced disappearances” were an unannounced policy of the state.
He further said that the Armed Forces have made and will continue to make sacrifices for the security and integrity of the country and every citizen should respect them otherwise the security and integrity of the country and its people would be jeopardized.
“However, the involvement or perception of the armed forces in acts tantamount to violations of human rights and civil liberties undermines the rule of law,” the order added.
Justice Minullah said that if the missing persons were not recovered and no effective and workable measures / decisions were taken by the federal government, then the present and former interior ministers would personally appear and explain that the decision on the petitions. Why can’t it be done and reasonable fines can be imposed on them because the petitioners suffered unimaginable pain and suffering due to lack of response and empathy towards their grievances.
The order states that “the Attorney General will satisfy the court as to why criminal cases cannot be ordered against the chief executives of the federation and the provinces concerned in the case of alleged disappearances in the future”.
The court also lamented the role of the media in not effectively covering the issue of missing persons and said, In the case of missing persons, it seems that they either prefer to ignore the worst forms of abuse of state power and violation of fundamental rights or do not consider it a priority.
The court also expressed dissatisfaction over the role of Parliament on the issue, saying, “The Majlis-e-Shura (Parliament) and the Legislative Assemblies of the provinces concerned are the most important and important bodies of the state but there is nothing on record to say so. He pointed out that he played an active role in fulfilling his constitutional responsibilities.
