CHITRAL, Sept 4: Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan said on Tuesday that he took the missing persons’ case as a challenge and thousands of missing persons had so far been reunited with their families.

Addressing the district bar here, he said that the judiciary was duty-bound to protect personal freedom of people and in this regard it showed zero tolerance in the missing persons’ case.

The chief justice said that the judiciary had closed the door for those who wanted to lead an ‘expedition’ against the country’s constitution.

He said that the judiciary was asserting itself and it had been striving for achieving financial autonomy so that it could work independently and be able to provide relief to people.

“I have already taken up the case of financial autonomy with the relevant quarters and served notices on the government,” he said, adding that the judiciary could not be forced to approach the government for its needs.

“The budget proposal sent by the chief justice of high court should be approved by the provincial assembly without any cut,” he said while referring to the struggle for achieving financial autonomy of the judiciary.

The chief justice regretted that successive governments had been neglecting provisions of the 1973 Constitution concerning the independence of judiciary.

He opposed the lopsided development in different parts of the country and said that this had been creating discontent as could be seen in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Balochistan.

He stressed for equal treatment of people of the country in matters like allocation of development funds and employment opportunities or distribution of other resources.

District bar association president Ghulam Hazrat advocate also spoke on the occasion. Earlier, the chief justice heard a number of cases in the circuit bench, which had been transferred from Swat circuit bench.