KARACHI, March 6: A two-member bench of the Sindh High Court on Thursday disposed of a petition seeking the whereabouts of missing persons and said the petitioner is at liberty to file another application under the relevant the law to seek legal remedy.
The petition was filed by Mariam who submitted through Advocate Ghulam Qadir that her brother, Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, her son, Ammar, her sons-in-law Ramiz Yousuf and Abdul Qadir, and her nephew, Abu Musab alias Abdul Karim Mehmood, were arrested in 2003 by intelligence agencies as part of a crackdown launched against religious parties following the Sept 11, 2001 attacks.
Terming the petition infructuous, Justices Azizullah M. Memon and Arshad Noor Khan said directives had been issued to all the respondent authorities to trace the missing persons. The respondents, which included the ministry of interior, the Inter-Services Intelligence, the Intelligence Bureau, and the Sindh home department, said they were not aware of the whereabouts of the missing persons.
The petitioner’s counsel, however, insisted that the ‘missing persons’ were actually in wrongful confinement and no case had been registered against them. He referred to press reports indicating that Mr Mohammad and others were in the custody of US-based authorities. He asserted that Mr Mohammad and others were citizens of Pakistan and they could be detained by authorities of another country.
Poll petitions
The division bench also reserved orders on five petitions filed by as many Muttahida Quami Movement candidates against their rivals, demanding a vote recount in their constituencies, adds PPI.
K.S. Mujahid Baloch (NA-239), Salahuddin (PS-93), Sardar Khan (PS-128), Sheikh Muhammad Feroz (PS-89) and Ashfaq Mangi (PS-90) moved the SHC against their rivals, Abdul Qadir Patel of the Pakistan People’s Party, Amir Nawab and Amanullah Mehsood of the Awami National Party, Akhter Hussain Jadoon and Nadim Bhutto of the PPP, respectively.
The bench reserved its order till a date in office.
Notices issued
The division bench issued notices to the Sindh chief secretary, home secretary, education ministry, the education director and a private school on a petition filed against private schools demanding fees for the months of June and July in advance.
The petitioner, Ittehad Social Welfare Organization, moved the SHC against private schools that are demanding advance fees for June and July.It submitted through counsel Mumtaz Khan Rajput that hundreds of schools in Karachi were running commercial businesses on the pretext of imparting education without having proper registration and qualified teachers. As a result, the petitioner argued, the future of thousands of students was at stake.
The petitioner said it was the duty of the chief secretary, the education secretary and the education director, to keep a check on unregistered schools having no qualified teachers and placing illegal demands on parents.
He asked the authorities concerned to take strict action against such schools.
The bench adjourned the hearing till a date in office.
