PESHAWAR, May 5: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday directed the ministry of defence to file written comments within one week in reply to two identical petitions challenging alleged illegal detention of four persons by the Pakistan Army for the last two months.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Ijazul Hassan fixed May 12 for next hearing and directed deputy attorney general Hamid Farooq Durrani to file comments before that date.

Mr Durrani informed the bench that he had contacted the ministry and they should be given one week's time for furnishing comments regarding the detention of the four detainees.

The NWFP government and police have already expressed ignorance about the detention of the four detainees. The two petitions are filed by an agriculture scientist Dr Abdur Rehman and his relative Advocate Muhammad Aslam Khan.

Dr Rehman, a former managing director of multinational agro-chemical company Monsanto Pakistan Agri tech (Pvt) Ltd, claimed that his son, Sohail Rehman, who had spent more than three years in Toronto (Canada) and holds a "permanent resident card" of the Canadian government, was picked by some officials in plainclothes and army uniform from his residence in D.I.Khan between the night of March 11 and 12 at about 3am.

Advocate Muhammad Aslam has stated that his three nephews Kashif Jamal, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Farooq, who are also nephews of Dr Rehman, were picked from their residence at D.I.Khan the same night and since then their whereabouts were not known.

The petitioners' counsel Abdul Lateef Afridi contended that the continuous detention of the four was illegal and unconstitutional. He added that no information had been extended to-date to the petitioners regarding the reason for their arrest.

The respondents in the petition are government of Pakistan through secretary, ministry of defence, secretary, ministry of interior, government of the NWFP through secretary home, DI Khan district police officer and SHO police station DI Khan Cantt.