LAHORE, Nov 15: The interior ministry failed to produce Dr Amir Aziz in the Lahore High Court on Friday in breach of the orders of Justice Tassaduq Husain Jilani on the grounds that “his whereabouts were still unknown.”
Expressing dissatisfaction over the reply of Deputy Attorney-General Danishwar Malik, the judge observed that the interior secretary must know about the detained orthopaedic surgeon as all the agencies reported to him.
The judge was of the view that Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider was also aware of the whereabouts of Dr Amir who was arrested by a joint team of local security personnel and the FBI on Oct 21 for his alleged links with the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
The judge disagreed with the DAG’s contention that Inter-Service Intelligence was under the administrative control of the ministry of defence.
“The court has no arms to enforce its decisions. It proceeds on moral authority and the institutions of the state comply with its directions. Even a criminal is required to be dealt with in accordance with the law. I want to restore the confidence of people in the integrity of the court,” the judge observed, directing again the interior secretary to ensure production of Dr Amir in the court on Tuesday, positively.
“We accept the court orders and are trying to comply with them but we do not know the whereabouts of the detainee. The interior ministry would have produced the detainee but it does not have him in its custody. The interior secretary is out of the country but the ISI had been contacted to ascertain whether it was detaining Dr Amir. Its reply, however, is still awaited,” the DAG submitted while presenting a copy of the letter written by the interior ministry to the ISI.
The DAG sought adjournment of the case as the government required time to locate the doctor, submitting that “everything possible” was being done for the purpose.
The counsel for petitioner Zakia Aziz — Ehsan Wyne, Manzoor Gilani and Iftikhar Shahid — accused the government of using delaying tactics. They were of the view that the case was being treated like other political cases and proceedings were being dragged on under the pretext of waiting for the ISI reply.
They submitted that people’s concern about Dr Amir’s safety was growing in view of reports that he was being interrogated by the FBI. They also expressed concern over the situation in view of the execution of Mir Aimal Kasi in the US.
They submitted that they had placed 16 annextures on record to prove that Dr Amir was in the custody of the interior ministry.
They submitted that there could be a law and order problem in the event of an inordinate delay in Dr Amir’s recovery.
