The Supreme Court building in Islamabad. - File Photo

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the intelligence agencies to produce seven people in their custody on Feb 9, DawnNews reported.

An apex court bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Parvez heard a petition filed by a woman whose three sons had been picked up by intelligence personnel for their alleged role in the Oct 2009 attacks on the army GHQ and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency’s Hamza Camp in Rawalpindi.

The woman had alleged that her sons and eight other people had been kept in illegal confinement since May 29, 2010, and four of them, including one of her sons, Abdus Saboor, had died in mysterious circumstances.

Raja Arshad, the lawyer of Judge Advocate General (JAG) Branch and chiefs of the ISI and MI told the bench that the four had died due to illness.

Arshad further said that he was not aware of the nature of the illness but that his clients were ready to conduct port mortems of the bodies.

The chief justice mentioned that the prime minister had appeared before the court and told the lawyer that no one was above the law and the Constitution.

The Constitution provides people protection and guarantees their independence, he added.

Subsequently, the hearing was adjourned to Feb 9.