ISLAMABAD: Retired Lt Col Inamur Rahim Advocate reached his home in Rawalpindi on Thursday night after being released by military authorities.

When contacted, Mr Rahim told Dawn that he had been picked up without any formal charge and was released since there was no reason to keep him in custody.

Mr Rahim, who is known to pursue cases of missing persons, vowed to continue his fight against enforced disappearance.

He was picked by military authorities on December 17. Senior lawyers, including Ahsanuddin Sheikh, retired Brigadier Wasaf Khan Niazi, Taufiq Asif, Anwar Dar, Rana Abdul Qayyum and retired Major Waheed, filed a petition for his recovery in Lahore High Court (LHC).

The LHC ordered the military authorities to release Mr Rahim. However, the defence ministry filed an appeal against the LHC order before the Supreme Court.

Attorney General Anwar Mansoor on Jan 22 told a three-judge apex court bench that the government wanted to release Mr Rahim in view of his health condition.

The bench, headed by Justice Mushir Alam and comprising Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, had taken up the government appeal against the Jan 9 short order in which the LHC’s Rawalpindi bench while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Husnain Inam, son of Mr Rahim, had declared the detention unlawful.

A two-page order issued by the Supreme Court stated that the AG had on instructions said since the detained lawyer was not keeping good health, so on this ground, it has been decided that he be released but subject to deposit of his passport.

Accordingly, the detained lawyer will be released after depositing his passport with the additional registrar (judicial) of the Supreme Court and that he will associate and continue to cooperate in the inquiry and investigation.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2020