Student missing from KP: IHC orders govt to pay Rs3m in compensation to father

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday ordered the federal government to pay Rs3 million in compensation to the father of Haroon Muhammad, a student missing from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa for the last 15 years.

A single judge bench of Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb who heard the case ordered that the compensation be paid to the father of the missing KP student before the next date of hearing.

The petitioner’s legal counsel, Imaan Mazari, informed the court that the petitioner’s family has been receiving threats for pursuing the case. Justice Miangul Hassan directed the Inspector General (IG) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to provide security to the petitioner and ordered the registration of a case against the security personnel involved.

The court adjourned the hearing for two weeks.

Meanwhile, IHC judge Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani ordered that Kashmiri poet Ahmed Farhad be declared an “enforced disappearance/missing person” till he reaches his home safely.

Justice Kayani on Monday issued the written order of Friday’s hearing, which stated: “Syed Farhad Ali Shah is declared an enforced disappearance/missing person until he reaches his home safely.”

Farhad had been allegedly abducted from his home on May 15, with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan calling for his immediate release.

Justice Kayani observed that when Farhad would reach his home, the investigation officer of Islamabad’s LohiBher police station was bound to record his statement “under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) before a judicial magistrate and proceed with the investigation as a result”.

On the matter of combining all such cases of enforced disappearance sub judice before the IHC and forming a larger bench to hear them, Justice Kayani ordered that the cases be presented before IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq “so he, using his administrative powers, may form a larger bench so that this matter of public interest can be dealt with in a better way”.

Further, the judge directed the IHC registrar to invite the director generals of the ISI, the MI, and the IB as well as the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) incharge at the next meeting of the Criminal Justice Committee so they could present their requests and recommendations.

The meeting’s aim would also be for all institutions — including the Islamabad police, inspector general and chief commissioner as well as the interior and law ministries — to protect citizens’ rights and deal with a “heinous crime such as enforced disappearance while remaining within the legal jurisdiction”, the order added.

It further stated: “All such cases that pertain to national security affairs be fixed for in-camera hearing and if it is an important matter, then a larger bench may hear them after being briefed by heads of top investigative institutions. And directives shall be issued to not report such cases in media.”

The IHC appreciated all court assistants (amicus curiae) who assisted it on the matter of enforced disappearances during the case.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024