SC dismisses pleas by Hizbut Tahrir

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a number of petitions filed by members of Hizbut Tahrir, the banned religious organisation, requesting the court not to refer the cases of its abducted men to the commission on missing persons.
A two-member Supreme Court bench of Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Tariq Parvez dismissed the pleas after hearing Umar Hayat Sindhu, the lawyer for petitioners Kamran Yousaf Zai, Ehsan Dawar Khan, Professor Muhammad Hanif Qureshi and Muhammad Ismail Abid. The petitioners had named the government of Pakistan through the interior secretary respondent in the case.
Sindhu submitted in court that his clients were abducted in July 2011, claiming that the intelligence agencies were involved in the kidnapping.
He said instead of sending their cases to the inquiry commission on missing persons, the apex court should itself resolve the matter. The lawyer said the inquiry commission on missing persons was still incomplete, as the interior ministry had so far failed to appoint its chairman. He said their cases would be delayed if sent to the incomplete commission and the accused (intelligence agencies) could take advantage of the situation.
During the hearing, Justice Nasirul Mulk noted that the matter was still pending with the Islamabad High Court (IHC), therefore, the apex court could not hear it.
Talking to reporters at the Supreme Court after dismissal of the pleas, Sindhu said intelligence agencies were not implementing IHC orders. He said despite strict orders of the IHC, the ISI director general had not yet submitted a written statement on the whereabouts of abducted Hizbut Tahrir members.