SHC asks Defence, Home secretaries to submit reply

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday sought replies from Secretary Defence and Home Secretary Sindh about more than fifty missing persons including an employee of Karachi Development Authority (KDA).

A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi also directed Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to submit the reply after the bench took up the identical petitions of families of missing persons.

The bench also directed Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to furnish the reply in fifteen days about the disappearance of Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin.

Justice Rizvi asked lawyers of Rangers about the investigation of people, whom it arrest and where it keeps them. Rangers’ lawyer told the court that the force no longer keeps the people for investigation as it was stripped of the powers to keep the people for investigation for 90 days.

The lawyer informed the court that Rangers hand over the suspects to police after investigation or let them go if found nothing against them. The lawyer told the court that there are no missing persons with Rangers for investigation.

The bench observed that the police department is only limited to the constitution of joint investigation teams whereas families of missing persons are passing through trauma.

The bench directed the law enforcing agencies to ensure recovery of missing persons.