Prisoners’ sight invoked fear of God in me: CJ

ISLAMABAD: As intelligence agencies produced before the court seven missing prisoners who had been picked up after their release from Adiyala Jail in 2010, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry Monday said the condition of the prisoners had invoked the fear of God in him.


The Supreme Court on Monday sought records from the intelligence agencies about the whereabouts prior to January 26 of seven prisoners who went missing from Rawalpindi’s Adiyala Jail in 2010.
A three-member bench of the apex court comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Pervez was hearing the constitutional petition. In compliance with the court’s earlier order, the intelligence agencies produced seven missing prisoners picked up from Adiyala Jail in 2010. 
Raja Muhammad Irshad, counsel for the intelligence agencies, produced the detainees including Mazharul Haq, Shafiqur Rehman, Muhammad Shafiq, Dr Niaz Ahmed, Abdul Majeed, Gulroze and Abdul Basit.
The court directed Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq and Raja Irshad to procure records to satisfy the court about their detention prior to January 26, 2012 and explain whether they were proceeded against under any provision of the law and if so, with what results. 


The court also directed KP Chief Secretary Ghulam Dastagir to collect relevant records to satisfy the court about the circumstances under which the detainees were allowed to be admitted to the Internment Centre by the internment authority. 
During the hearing, the chief secretary, on behalf of the internment authority/ KP governor, pointed out that the detainees were in detention with effect from January 26 and had been kept at the FC Fort, Parachinar, a notified Internment Centre.


Irshad submitted that the first three persons had been brought from the Internment Centre, Parachinar, whereas the latter four persons had been brought from the Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar. He told the court that on February 10, when the case was taken up by the court, arrangements were being made to shift the detainees from Parachinar to Islamabad. 


“But on account of poor visibility due to snowfall, the helicopter was not in a position to operate. When conditions improved, the prisoners were brought to Islamabad along with four other persons who were admitted in Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar. By that time, however, court proceedings had ended,” Irshad said. 
The court then directed him to give this explanation in writing. The court was informed that four of the detainees had been brought from the hospital, where they were under treatment and reports in this regard had also been placed on record.


Based on the report, the court noted that the detainees were not in good health. Similarly, the three persons brought from the Internment Centre, Parachinar also required examination by medical authorities, since the learned counsel for the petitioners had said all seven persons were kept in illegal detention and not provided proper food and medical care/treatment.


In this regard, the KP chief secretary told the court that the persons would be admitted in hospital and a medical board would be constituted to examine their health and proper medical treatment as well as food provided to them. “They will not be shifted to the Internment Centre, Parachinar as long as the matter is pending before this court.”
The chief secretary further assured the court that meetings between the prisoners and their families would be arranged in accordance with rules and regulations, subject to their security and safety.


At the previous hearing, the court had directed the chief secretary to submit whether an oversight board had been constituted in terms of Article 14 of the Actions (in Aid of Civil Power) Regulation, 2011. 


On Monday, the chief secretary placed on record a notification dated August 12, 2011, according to which a board had been constituted. However, he said as per his knowledge, since the detainees were brought to the Internment Centre on January 26, 2012, therefore, the oversight board had neither examined their cases nor visited them. 
The court directed the chief secretary to submit his reports about the health and general conditions of the seven detainees every four days to the registrar of the court. The case was adjourned for further hearing till March 1.