IHC issues written order summoning PM Kakar, others in missing Baloch students case

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued a written order of the summons issued to Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and other top officials for February 19 in the missing Baloch students case.

The written order said that the prime minister of Pakistan, the minister of interior, the minister of human rights and the minister of defence should appear in the court at 10 am on February 19.

It also said that the secretaries of the relevant ministries should also appear in the court in their personal capacity.

The written order issued by IHC judge Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani said that despite the assurance of the Attorney General for Pakistan at the last hearing, the Baloch students were not recovered and “it seems that the federal government is not interested in the supremacy of law.”

The order said that the prime minister, the interior and defence ministers and the interior and defence secretaries did not comply with the court order and the court was left with no option but to summon them all for clarification.

The court said that the prime minister, the interior and defence ministers and interior and defence secretaries should appear in the court in their personal capacity and explain why action should not be taken against them for not recovering the Baloch students. This aspect (non-compliance of the court order) makes them guilty of misconduct, the written order said.

The order also said that these office-holders were accomplices in the crime against the society where the citizens were being deprived of their right to life and freedom.

“The state institutions have no explanation for their conduct, but they are completely silent, the court is very clear that there can be only two situations in this matter, either the state institutions are responsible for the criminal acts of abduction and enforced disappearances, or the state institutions are completely incompetent that they cannot recover the alleged missing persons,” the written order said.

The court order said that if the missing persons were involved in terrorism or any other crime, they should be presented in the relevant court, cases should be registered against them and let the decisions be made in the relevant courts according to the law.

The order said that the interior and defence ministry officials, who earlier appeared in the court, could not present anything in this regard even in the sealed envelopes.