Balochistan unrest case: SC summons IG FC and interior secretary

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QUETTA: The Supreme Court of Pakistan summoned federal interior secretary and Inspector General of FC for the next hearing over the case related to Chief Justice's suo-motu notice of unrest in Balochistan after at least 60 people had lost their lives in separate incidents of violence within a week.

During the hearing held in the apex court's Quetta registry the two-member bench comprising of Chief Justice iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Athar Saeed also expressed displeasure of a the live airing of a dramatic stand-off in the federal capital a day earlier.

The media's live broadcast gave the impression to the world that one man was enough to hold the federal capital hostage, according to the top judge.

The chief justice also questioned chairman of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) over what action he had taken against all those channels which had aired the six-hour long fiasco live.

Pemra Chairman, Rashid Mehmood responded by expressing his helplessness saying that he had no powers to take any action.

The bench also expressed anger over the absence of the federal interior secretary from the court's proceedings.

A representative of the FC, while talking about the missing persons issue, informed the court that communication could not be established with the IG of FC, who has remained absent from court proceedings.

The court also instructed the deputy attorney general and the advocate general to record the statements of the heirs of all missing persons whereas a report over the missing persons was also submitted in court by the FC.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry summoned IG FC for the next hearing.

He further said that the Ziarat incident was sensitive in nature adding that no one was serious about the issue and that the situation was deteriorating day by day while mentioning the recovery of five bodies in the area a day earlier.

The court also summoned for the case's next hearing the Chief Executive Officer of a private new channel again over the airing of a video, showing footage of the destruction the Quaid-e-Azam residency in Ziarat. The court had earlier said that the airing of destruction of national heritage sites was against the constitution of Pakistan.

Moreover CCPO Quetta Mir Zubair told the court that there were developments in the probe into the suicide attack at a funeral of a slain police officer in Quetta's police lines area police lines on Aug 8 and that those responsible would soon be in the grip of the law.

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