ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday directed an investigating officer of the capital police to record the statement of Kashmiri poet Ahmed Farhad, who is currently in the custody of Azad Jammu and Kashmir police, after Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani was informed that his post-arrest bail plea had been rejected.

The poet had been missing since mid-May until the IHC was told at a hearing that the AJK police had arrested him on a charge under the anti-terrorism act.

During the course of hearing, Justice Kayani remarked that he would write to the chief justice to form a larger bench on missing person cases.

However, Justice Kay­ani disposed of the petition seeking Mr Farhad’s recovery, with the remarks that apparently it was causing hardship to the incarcerated poet.

The judge then ordered the investigating officer of Lohi Bher police station to record his statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

Iman Mazari, the poet’s counsel, earlier told the judge that an anti-terrorism court of Muzaffarabad rejected Mr Farhad’s post-arrest bail.

The additional attorney general Barrister Muna­war Iqbal Duggal, on the other hand, requested the court to dispose of the matter as the habeas corpus petition cannot be heard once a detenue is recovered.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2024