KARACHI, Oct 25: The court may consider asking the government to pay maintenance to the dependants of unlawfully detained persons, the Sindh High Court warned on Thursday.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah directed the federal and provincial governments to submit a report on the efforts made by their agencies to recover the ‘disappeared’ people on November 6, the next date of hearing. Besides depriving individuals of their liberty and causing them hardships, the bench observed, unlawful detention in certain cases also robs their dependants of maintenance. It was a matter of shame that people remain confined for long periods without trial or even investigation, it said. Appearing for a petitioner, Advocate Abdul Hafeez Lakho suggested that each affected family should at least be paid Rs15,000 per month from the public exchequer. The amount may later be recovered from the delinquent officials or agencies from their salaries or funds allocated to them.
Deputy Attorney-General Rizwan Ahmed Siddiqui stated no person was being unlawfully detained in custody by a federal agency. Maintenance could be considered only when it had been established that a person was being detained by an official agency and that his custody was illegal. He said a number of persons who are alleged to have been detained unlawfully were required in criminal cases.
The DAG and Assistant Advocate-General Abdul Jabbar Lakho informed the bench that four of the alleged detainees, Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, Sher Mohammad Baloch, Salim Baloch and Ali Mohammad Baloch, have since returned home. Detainee Asif Baladi has been arrested in a criminal case.
Advocate Noor Naz Agha, Advocate Chaudhry Iqbal and other lawyers representing the petitioners said that most of the ‘missing’ were found in custody despite initial denials by government agencies. Mere release after prolonged incarceration was no favour to the detainees.
