March 06, 2008	Thursday	Safar 27 ,1429

ISLAMABAD, March 5: Caretaker federal Minister for Human Rights Ansar Burney has sought clarification from the interior and law ministries on the status of the deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and his family.

The minister said on Wednesday that government reports and statements of lawyers and the civil society were contradictory and, therefore, the two ministries should declare if the deposed CJ and his family were under house arrest.

He also called for specifying the law under which they were being detained.

In strongly-worded letters, Mr Burney said that he had been informed by the ministries that the chief justice was ‘not under house arrest’ and he was actually ‘illegally occupying’ the official residence. However, there were media reports and statements by members of the chief justice’s family in which they complained that their movement was severely restricted.

The minister also cited media reports which said that the doors of the deposed CJ’s house had been locked and his children were not allowed to go out.

The ministries, he said, should also say if the deposed chief justice and his family were being held under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance (MPO) and if so no one could be detained for more than 90 days without being produced in court.

After receiving the ministries’ reply, the minister said, he would ‘personally verify’ the information provided.

He said he expected replies from the ministries by Thursday and he would then decide what to do.

“I will meet the Chief Justice on Friday and verify if the ministries’ statements were true. Whatever happens, I will bring him out of the house,” Mr Burney said.

It may be mentioned that personnel of police, Rangers and other security agencies are deployed around the deposed chief justice’s house and the roads leading to the Judicial Colony have been blocked by concrete barriers and barbed wire.