Missing persons' case: Parliament can be moved if there's no law: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court Thursday categorically said that spy agencies were not above the law. It observed the Parliament could be approached if there existed no law to deal with the missing persons case. Raja Irshad, counsel for Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence said that the existing Parliament did not represent the will of the people.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry told him that the incumbent Parliament represented the will of the people and had passed the 20th Constitutional Amendment to resolve issues. "If you take them (Parliamentarians) into confidence, they will facilitate you as well," the CJP remarked.
The SC expressed immense dismay over the failure of the counsel for the ISI and the MI to justify arrest of 11 persons outside Adiala jail Rawalpindi on 29th May 2010. In response to a constitutional petition from the relatives of 11 persons, the two spy agencies produced seven persons before the court on February 13, 2012 whereas bodies of four were received by their relatives in Peshawar. A three-member bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan has been hearing the petition filed by Ms Rohifa, the mother of three out of the seven prisoners.
Rohifa received the body of one of her sons on January 26, 2012. She breathed her last on February 14 after meeting her two surviving sons in the apex court's premises on February 13. During the hearing, the Chief Justice observed that the replies of counsel for the ISI and the MI Raja Irshad were unsatisfactory, observing that the replies submitted to the bench did not identify the law under which civilians were picked up by the agencies and kept in detention for more than a year. Raja Irshad apprised the bench that the concerned authorities in the agencies were taking the matter seriously.
The CJP said: "There is a hue and cry throughout the country that ISI and MI abduct people and after some days their abandoned bodies are found." A member of the bench, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, cited the 1965 war when people in a way led the army to the borders. He remarked that he was more loyal to the country than the counsel for the agencies.
"If a judge is bound not to violate a traffic signal, then why will he allow you to subvert the Constitution of the country?" Justice Khilji questioned. While referring to the agencies' role and the situation in Balochistan, the CJP observed that Balochistan had been set on fire. "We ask you time and again and you always tell us stories. Are we here to listen to your stories?" the CJP asked Raja Irshad.
The CJP remarked that even if those people had attacked the GHQ, they still deserved a fair trial. Raja Irshad apprised the bench that "foreign elements" were involved in sabotaging Balochistan situation saying that the agencies could not keep with their "eyes closed" in relation to the issue.
However, the bench expressed satisfaction over the report submitted by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary about the health condition of prisoners. The counsel for the petitioner, Tariq Asad, was directed by the court to avail other remedies provided under the law to release the prisoners.
The Chief Justice maintained that as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Barrister Masood Kosar was well aware of the law he would not create hindrances in the case, adding that the court would decide this case at any cost. The bench also directed the Chief Secretary KP to submit a report relating to the prisoners' health after every four days in court. The hearing was adjourned till March 16.