The Supreme Court on Wednesday decided to hear a case pertaining to increasing incidents of kidnapping for ransom and targeted killings in Balochistan at its Quetta branch registry on March 20.
The court directed the Balochistan chief secretary, advocate general and inspector general of police, as well as the attorney general for Pakistan to ensure their appearance before the court on the said date.
A three-member bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez was hearing a petition filed by Balochistan High Court Bar Association President Hadi Shakeel Ahmed against targeted killings and kidnapping for ransom in the Balochistan.
During the hearing, the chief justice expressed concern over the law and order in the province, saying it was the responsibility of the government to control and normalise the situation in the province. He said the chief minister of the province should take interest in the matter and take effective measures for improving the law and order.
He said the concerned authorities/stakeholders should hold jirga after consulting Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Mir Bakhsh Marri and other tribal leaders.
“It’s a dangerous situation as not only the civilians but also the personnel of law enforcing agencies were also being killed,” the chief justice observed.
Justice Khilji Arif Hussain observed that the present turmoil in the province was a reminder of the situation in 1971.
During the hearing, Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq in compliance with the court’s earlier order submitted the classified reports of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI) on Balochistan’s law and order.
The court accepted the agencies’ plea for not making their reports public.
The attorney general told the court that military authorities had requested it (court) to allow them for giving an in-camera briefing over the Balochistan situation, like they had earlier briefed it on targeted killings in Karachi.
Sindh Additional Inspector General Police Ghulam Shabbir Sheikh presented before the court a report on the killing of the wife and daughter of Mir Bakhtiar Domki.
The court directed the Sindh police to continue the investigation and submit a report on March 20.