ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Punjab chief secretary to positively recover the 11 missing prisoners of Adiala Jail by November 10 and submit a compliance report before it by the set date.
The directives came after a daily situation report (DSR) was presented before the apex court by the Rawalpindi Police Special Branch, which unveiled facts about the whereabouts of the 11 missing prisoners. The DSR also exposed the Punjab police and bureaucracy for hiding facts from the apex court.
The DSR was submitted before a three-member SC bench, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday, which was hearing the case of 11 missing prisoners of Adiala Jail, who had allegedly been handed over to intelligence agencies by the jail authorities.
Appearing on notice, Punjab Chief Secretary Nasir Mehmood Khosa, told the court that they ‘were not helpless’ in tracing out the missing prisoners, while providing assurances that the prisoners would be recovered. Muhammad Ilyas Siddiqui, counsel for the 11 missing prisoners, told reporters outside SC that the DSR stated that after subjecting the prisoners to severe torture, the Adiala Jail authorities handed over the 11 men to an intelligence agency on the night of May 29.
He said the report was forwarded to the high ups of the police department as well as the bureaucracy who tried to hide facts from the court, expressing ignorance about the whereabouts of the missing prisoners. After issuing the orders to the CS, the court adjourned the hearing until November 10.
On Monday (November 1), Additional Attorney General KK Agha told the court that he had contacted the intelligence agencies who had informed him that the missing prisoners were not in their custody.
