ISLAMABAD, Jan 23: The Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court on Friday directed the federal government that serving and retired officials of the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), who are in government custody for debriefing, should not be taken out of the court's jurisdiction.
Justice Maulvi Anwarul Haq, who took up a habeas corpus of eight retired and serving officials of the KRL, passed the order after relatives of the scientists apprehended that the latter would be handed over to the US agency, FBI.
The jurisdiction of the LHC's Rawalpindi bench extends to northern Punjab, starting from Jhelum to Attock. Islamabad is also in the jurisdiction of the LHC.
The court, which had issued notices to the government to explain why the KRL officials had been taken into custody, received no answer from the government till Friday.
Instead, the government lawyer requested the court to adjourn hearing for another two weeks saying there were so many agencies involved in the matter. Mr Anwarul Haq expressed displeasure at the government's attitude and observed that the whole world was aware of what was happening to the officials except the court which was not being taken into confidence over the matter.
The court turned down the government's request for a fortnight's adjournment, and fixed the case for hearing on Tuesday, Jan 27. Eight officials of the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), some of them serving and others retired, have approached the court for seeking their release.
They are: Mohammad Farooq, Director-General of KRL; Maj (retd) Islamul Haq, Principal Staff Officer of Dr A.Q. Khan; Brig (retd) Sajawal Khan, retired as Director-General of Maintenance and General Services Division at the KRL; Naseemuddin, currently head of Missile Manufacturing, KRL, Kahuta; Mansoor Ahmad, former DG of Health and Physics Department, Kahuta; Brig (retd) Mohammad Iqbal Tajwar, former Director-General of Security, KRL, Kahuta; and Dr Nazeer Ahmad, Chief Engineer of Metallurgy Department, KRL.
The petitioners' counsel Advocate Ikram Chaudhry, Barrister Tariq Khokhar and Advocate Shah Khawar said that the government was not paying any respect to the court and its attitude was "casual."
He said that his client, Mohammad Farooq, had been in the ISI custody for about 50 days, and his petition was adjourned twice to allow the government to explain reasons for their detention.
Deputy Attorney-General Tariq Mehmood, representing the Federation, said he could not talk to the ISI directly and he had to go through the interior ministry for seeking instructions and for that he needed at least two weeks' time.
When Barrister Tariq Khokhar stated that there was an apprehension that the detained scientists would be handed over to US agencies as had been done in the case of Aimal Kansi, Justice Anwarul Haq assured the lawyer that no such thing would happen and he would restrain the government from removing the detained men from the court's jurisdiction.
Justice Maulvi Anwarul Haq also directed the DAG to seek instructions from the respondents, particularly from the Ministry of Information, to explain on what basis the minister was making statements about those taken into custody for "debriefing."
Emotional scenes were seen in the court as one of the relatives of the detenu broke down and said that his brother was undergoing the humiliation only because of his services for the country.
A daughter of Dr Nazir Ahmad sought permission from the court to ask under what law her father had been detained? Advocate Shah Khawar, representing Dr Nazir Ahmad, said that the word 'debriefing' was being wrongly used and the constitution and laws of the country were totally silent about debriefing.
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