Islamabad High Court (IHC) Mohsin Akhtar Kayani ordered Kashmiri poet Ahmed Farhad to be declared “enforced missing/missing person” until he reaches his home safely.
“Syed Farhad Ali Shah is hereby declared missing/missing until he reaches home safely,” a written message from Friday’s hearing, available on Dawn.com, said.
Farhad was reportedly abducted from his home on May 15, and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has demanded his immediate release.
On the same day, Farhad’s wife filed a petition at the IHC asking him to be found and brought to court to identify, investigate and prosecute those responsible for his disappearance.
Justice Kayani raised 12 questions mainly related to the duties and responsibilities of domestic agencies – Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB).
After several orders from the IHC, the government resumed action on May 29 when the government informed the court that the poet was in the custody of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) police.
On June 1, Farhad was taken to a health facility in Muzaffarabad for a medical examination, hours after his counsel questioned him in the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC).
Last week, the ATC AJK rejected the poet’s bail suit, saying it was irrelevant to the legal proceedings brought by his lawyers.
The IHC filed a petition to reinstate Farhad on June 7, citing the plight of the jailed poet.
In a written order filed for today’s hearing, Justice Kayani said that when he visited Farhad’s house, the investigating officer of Lohi Bher police station, Islamabad, should record his statement under Section 164 of the Penal Code (CrPC). continue the investigation before the trial court and the results”.
On the issue of consolidating all such cases and setting up a bigger bench to hear them, Justice Kayani ordered that the cases be brought before the IHC Supreme Court Justice Farooq so that he can exercise his administrative powers. a bigger bench for a better resolution in the public interest”.
The judge then directed the IHC registrar to present requests and recommendations from ISI, MI and IB chief as well as Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Criminal Justice Committee in the next meeting.
The purpose of the meeting is for all agencies, including the Islamabad Police, the Inspector General, the Commissioner General, as well as the Minister of Interior and Law, to protect the rights of citizens and combat “serious crimes of forced removal while remaining within the limits of the law”. jurisdiction,” he said.
He further said: “All such cases involving national security issues will be heard in camera and if it is an important matter, a larger bench can hear them after being briefed by the head of the investigating agency. Instructions have been given not to report the incident like that in the media.”
The IHC commended all the amicus curiae who assisted it in the forced removal case.
