QUETTA, Sept 3: Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry expressed anger on Monday over the law and order situation in Balochistan and said the provincial government had failed to control the situation.

He rejected a claim made by the advocate general of Balochistan about improvement in law and order, saying that the killing of people was continuing and even a district and sessions judge was gunned down in broad daylight.

“What steps have so far been taken to arrest the culprits involved in killing of the judge and other people? The government did not wake up even on the killing of the judge,” observed the chief justice.

A three-judge bench, comprising the chief justice, Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, is hearing a petition on the law and order situation and human rights violations in Balochistan at the Quetta Registry of Supreme Court.

Advocate General Amanullah Kanrani informed the court that law and order was improving in the province and except for incidents of kidnapping for ransom, there was a reduction in cases of missing persons and recovery of bullet-riddled bodies.

“Nobody is safe in Khuzdar and Bolan and a session judge was killed in Quetta. A large number of people have been killed over the past few moths on sectarian grounds,” the chief justice regretted.

He said that despite a court order, smuggled vehicles and those with tinted glasses were moving about in the provincial capital and people were seen carrying weapons openly. “Who is issuing permits to people for carrying weapons and vehicles with tinted glasses? Why police is not taking action against them,” he wondered.

The chief justice regretted that a large number of people were migrating to Sindh, Punjab and other areas because of the worsening law and order in Balochistan. How many teachers had left Quetta after the killing of Prof Nazima Talib, he asked.

The situation showed that law and order was not in control of the provincial authorities, he said, adding that it appeared that the federal government was not aware of the situation in Balochistan.

The chief justice expressed annoyance over the absence of Attorney General Irfan Qadir and asked him to appear before the court on Tuesday. If the attorney general did not appear then the federal secretaries of defence and interior, the provincial chief secretary and other officials who had assured the court that they would take steps to improve the situation in Balochistan would be summoned on Wednesday, he said.

The chief justice said the court would issue an order because it could not ignore the implementation of the Constitution and law in the province.

The wife of Jamhoori Watan Party president Talal Bugti informed the court that Dera Bugti had been made a ‘no-go’ area for the Bugti tribe and alleged that agencies had installed Ghulam Qadir Bugti who was running a private jail in the area. She said members of her family were not allowed to enter Dera Bugti.

Chief Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad submitted a report on the situation in Dera Bugti and said that about 4,700 government employees had been posted there, but only 700 of them were performing their duty. “We are paying Rs930 million annually on account of salary to these employees.”

He said the deputy commissioner of Dera Bugti had been changed and a provincial secretary would visit the area every month which would pave the way for moving towards a civilian rule. The divisional account officer and the district police officer were also shifted to Dera Bugti.

The chief justice directed the chief secretary to ensure that relatives of Nawab Akbar Bugti returned to Dera Bugti.

He also asked the health secretary not to issue show cause notices to the striking doctors and said the court would call doctors and ask them to call off their strike.

Quetta police chief Zubair Mehmood informed the court that Lashkar-i-Jhangvi had accepted responsibility for the killing of district and session judge. He said police raided various places and arrested some people, including two suspected suicide bombers. He said 16 policemen had been killed over the past two and half months.

The CJ took note of shoulder promotions in police department and ordered that it should be withdrawn and 17 officers who had come to Balochistan should be appointed and deputed in fields.

The collector of customs informed the court that there were 10,000 illegal vehicles in the province and his department had so far seized 265 vehicles.