The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday reserved judgment until Friday on a case of five missing activists of the Hizbut Tahrir, allegedly picked up by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI). A single bench of Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman resumed hearing of five identical petitions, seeking recovery of missing Imran Yousufzai, Hayyan Dawar Khan, Osama Hanif, Abdul Qayoom and Abdul Wajid from the custody of intelligence operatives. At the last hearing the chief justice had directed the MI director general to appear before court as petitioners had alleged that his institution had custody of missing persons. On Wednesday MI Commandant Shahbaz and ISI Major Shahjan appeared before court and denied having custody of the missing Hizbut Tahrir activists.
The counsel for missing persons, Umar Hayat Sindho, contended that his clients were in the custody of the ISI and MI. The lawyer said it was a norm for secret agencies to pick up civilians. Citing a case in the Supreme Court, he said when the court directed senior officials of the intelligence agencies to produce the missing persons in court, they produced them within 24 hours. Upon this, Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri challenged the court’s jurisdiction and denied accusations that the agencies were holding the missing people.
He said the petitioners had not explicitly named the ISI and MI in FIRs. Moreover, he asked the court to dismiss these petitions and asked that the petitioners be directed to move Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court.
Upon this, the defence counsel contended that his client mentioned the names of ISI and MI to the police while lodging the FIR, but police failed to include them in the FIRs. He named the ISI and MI as respondents. At the last hearing, the counsel for missing persons had asked for the registration of FIRs against ISI and MI DGs on charges of kidnapping citizens. After hearing the arguments, the CJ adjourned the hearing and reserved decision, which would be announced on August 12, 2011.
