ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has described the terms of reference assigned to a one-man commission to find out the whereabouts of 35 missing persons as “superfluous” and cautioned that it is fast approaching the end of judicial restraint.

“We are approaching the end of our judicial restraint which is not that elastic to further stretch it for another eight months,” Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja observed on Monday during the hearing by a three-judge bench of a case relating to a missing man named Yasin Shah.

The case was initiated on an application of his elder brother Muhabbat Shah.

On Dec 10, the court held that the army authorities were responsible for removing 35 internees from the Malakand internment centre. But only seven of them were produced before the court.

On Monday, Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt informed the court that the government had appointed former Supreme Court judge retired Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan as one-man commission on the whereabouts of the remaining persons.

“There has to be some progress because the issue has put a serious question mark on the ability and effectiveness of the two executives -- the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments,” Justice Khawaja observed.

The terms of reference require the commission to determine whether any person was detained or removed illegally and, if so, identify the people responsible for illegal detention or removal.

In its Dec 10 verdict, the apex court ordered the government to find out the people allegedly involved in removing 35 persons from the internment centre.

The commission is required to complete its inquiry in one month and submit its findings/recommendations to the federal government for action. It will also furnish recommendations in other similar cases.

“We cannot allow going on this issue endlessly,” Justice Khawaja said, adding that expediency was not an option for courts. “Our only concern is to find out the whereabouts of Yasin Shah.”

The court observed that it was for the federal government to constitute the commission and determine its terms of reference.

“However, the terms of reference in the notification appear to be superfluous since it has to determine what has been directed in the Dec 10 verdict. Our concern as expressed repeatedly through different orders is that there appears to be a violation and non-enforcement of the fundamental rights of Yasin Shah and others and that he should be recovered without fail and delay,” the court said, adding that this state of affairs in “our constitutional dispensation cannot be countenance, especially when the principal law officers of the federation and the provincial government have admitted that there is no way out except enforcement of the fundamental rights of the citizens”.

KP Advocate General Latif Yousafzai sought more time and said he intended to go through the record. He said the government was ready to brief the court on the 35 missing persons in camera.

The case will be taken up on Wednesday.