PESHAWAR, July 28: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday dismissed a habeas corpus petition challenging the detention of a seminary student allegedly by the Inter-Service Intelligence for the past five months.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Shehzad Akber Khan and Justice Qaim Jan Khan observed that the petition had become infructuous as the respondents, including the ISI, had expressed ignorance about the detention.

Deputy Attorney-General Salahuddin Khan stated before the court that he had contacted the ISI high-ups and they had expressed ignorance about the whereabouts of Rafique Ahmad, a student of Darul Uloom-i-Haqqania in Akora Khattak.

He said the ISI had neither arrested nor had the knowledge of Rafique's whereabouts. He contended that the petition was not maintainable as it could not be established that the respondents had made the arrest.

The petitioner, Khalil Ahmad, claimed that the ISI personnel had picked up his brother (Rafique) at the Zangali checkpoint on Kohat Road in February. The Peshawar Corps Commander and the federation of Pakistan through the interior secretary were named as the other respondents in the petition.

Advocate Muhammad Arif Khan appeared for the detainee and contended that Rafique was kept in illegal detention for about five months. He said the detainee had not been produced before any court.

Rafique was also arrested in 2002 at Kohat following an attack on some armymen. He was later handed over to the North Waziristan Agency administration and was kept at Miramshah.He was released when a habeas corpus petition was filed in Oct 2002.

Following Rafique's apparent disappearance in February, a habeas corpus petition was filed in which the police department was made respondent. All the police stations in the province expressed ignorance about his detention which led the filing of the present petition.