ISLAMABAD, July 16: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the government to provide details of allegations against 165 accused detained during the Lal Masjid operation and to hand over the bodies of relatives of Maulana Rashid Ghazi to their families for proper burial.

The bench observed that if they had been detained from Lal Masjid it did not necessarily mean that they all were criminals.

“Police should not have treated them like that,” observed Justice Abbasi, adding that without any proper remand these people could not be kept in detention. The bench directed the Adiala Jail superintendent and the district administration to provide access to a seven-member legal aid committee so that they could meet the detainees.

The committee, headed by Advocate Asmatullah Niazi, comprises office-bearers of the High Court Bar Association and the District Bar, Rawalpindi.

The bench also took notice of bar fetters and handcuffs applied to the injured in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences and asked who would be responsible if they develop gangrene. However, the court was told that the fetters had been removed a day earlier.

Bodies: The court directed that the bodies, if buried at the sector H-11 graveyard ‘Amanatan’ (temporary), should be handed over to the families after ascertaining their identity through DNA tests.

A two-member bench, comprising Justice Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi and Justice Faqir Mohammad Khokhar, has taken a suo motu notice of the issue.

Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Tariq Khokhar informed the court that there were six charred bodies which were beyond recognition and even their gender was not identifiable. However, their DNA tests had been conducted and results were yet to come, he added. The directives were issued after the sisters of Maulana Rashid Ghazi requested the handing over of the body of their mother who died along with their brother (Ghazi) during the military operation. They have also requested for the bodies of their other colleagues — Hassan Aziz (son of Maulana Abdul Aziz), Atta Muhammad and Mufti Inamullah for their burial beside the grave of their father in the sector E-7 graveyard, adjacent to Jamia Fareedia.

The court also asked the Islamabad administration to release Maulana Abdul Aziz on parole at the time of last rituals and burial.