ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court ordered the government on Thursday to either arrange a meeting, in complete privacy, of internee Tasif Ali with his wife and father-in-law within a week and warned that if it was not done the court would issue a summon for his production before it.

“Unless you comply with our orders, we will ask for the production of the detained person before the court. We may also summon in charge of the internment centre,” cautioned Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk, who heads a two-judge bench which had taken up an application of Abida Malik seeking early production of her husband Tasif alias Danish.

He disappeared on Nov 23, 2012, but the court was informed by the authorities on March 14 that he had been apprehended on March 5 this year and was kept in the Lakki Marwat internment centre under the Action (in Aid of Civil Powers) Regulations 2011.

On Thursday, the apex court took up an affidavit Dr Malik Muhammad Aslam had filed after meeting his son-in-law, along with Abida Malik, on March 29 in the Kohat internment centre where he was told by its authorities not to ask questions, but only answer whatever Tasif asked them.

According to the affidavit, when Dr Aslam informed the authorities that the apex court had ordered that the meeting be arranged in complete privacy, he was told that the court’s orders had no jurisdiction inside the internment centre.

Dr Aslam and her daughter Abida were each allowed to see Tasif for 10 minutes. Six security personnel were inside the room while the seventh was making a video recording of the meeting.

“The presence of uniformed persons is an intimidation,” Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk Mulk said and asked Additional Attorney General (AAG) Atiq Shah why the conversation between the family members had been restricted.

“Our directions have not been complied with in letter and spirit,” the court regretted. It rejected the AAG’s claim that there was a cordial atmosphere during the meeting and confronted him with the contents of the affidavit describing the circumstances under which the family members had met Tasif.

The AAG assured the court that its orders would be complied with and another meeting in complete privacy would be arranged.

Advocate retired Col Inamur Rahiem, representing Abida Malik, said a medical report presented by the government showed that except for diabetes Tasif was not suffering from any serious ailment and apparently there was no health issue.

But when he expressed doubt about the medicines being given to control diabetes, the court asked him not to say something about which he had no knowledge. At least the detained person had been examined by a doctor, the court said. The court directed the internment centre’s doctor to regularly examine Tasif.

Tasif was allegedly picked up by Maj Ali Ahsan of the Military Intelligence.