Compensation to missing person's family: IHC directs MoF, interior secretaries to file reports

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed secretaries, ministries of finance and interior to file reports regarding the progress made on implementation of its order to pay compensation to the missing person's family by December 7th.

A single-member bench of Chief Justice Athar Minallah on Saturday issued written order on the contempt of court application by wife of enforced disappearance victim, Islamabad-based information technology (IT) expert Sajid Mehmood, who was allegedly abducted from his house in the bustling Sector F-10, in front of his family and neighbours in March 2016.

Sajid's wife on 18th September had apprised the IHC that the federal government had yet to implement its judgment wherein, four directions were given including for the government to bear the monthly expenses of the missing person's family until such a time that the person is recovered.

The petitioner's counsel stated that the court had not suspended its judgment to pay compensation.

The court said who was responsible for not implementing its 18 July, 2018, judgment regarding the matter.

Why not his case be sent to the federal cabinet?

The court said non-implementation of its judgment has raised questions of serious nature pertaining to violation of citizens' fundamental rights.

It also raises questions on the State's failure to protect its citizens.

The court on 18th July, 2018 passed a judgment directing the government to provide Rs100,000 per month to the victim's family apart from imposing fines worth Rs0.1 million each on the former Islamabad Police Inspector General (IGP) Khalid Khattak, former defence secretary General (retd) Zameerul Hasan Shah, and the ex-Islamabad deputy commissioner (DC) Mushtaq.

The Kohsar police Station House Officer (SHO) Qaiser Niazi had also been fined Rs0.3 million for failing to recover the missing citizen.

The court then summoned a report on the matter, and adjourned further hearing until December 7th.

At the last hearing of the case on October 19, CJ Minallah had said that secretaries of interior and finance will be summoned, if the family of the missing IT expert was not compensated as per the court orders.

But just eight days later on October 27, when a two-member, larger bench of the IHC, comprising Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzaib, heard an appeal filed by the government, the senior officials of three ministries and departments escaped heavy fines imposed on them by a court for failing to retrieve a resident of the federal capital who has been missing for nearly four years.

According to Sajjid's wife on March 14, 2016, her husband was "abducted from their home in F-10/1 amid circumstances which strongly suggest that this is a case of enforced disappearance."

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020