Missing men case hearing put off
RAWALPINDI, Aug 20: Mystery surrounding the disappearance of seven people from the Satellite Town remained unsolved as counsel for the defence and prosecution remained absent from the Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench here on Monday.
Justice Abdul Shakoor Paracha deferred the hearing for the first week on September when a report on the missing men was not presented before the court by the counsel for the federation, a respondent in the case.
During the last hearing that took place on August 13, the assistant advocate general (AAG) submitted to the court that the men were not in the custody of the Punjab police, while the standing counsel sought more time to find the whereabouts of the people and pledged to furnish the court with the findings on August 20.
In her petition filed through Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui advocate, Misbah Saleem said some police officials accompanied by other persons in civvies came to her house at Paghwari, Satellite Town, in four vehicles on the night of July 11 and abducted seven men, including her husband Salimullah Safi.
She said majority of the arrested persons, including Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Zahid, Ejaz Hussain, Mr Arsalan, Mohammad Sheraz and Abu Bakr Tariq, were her guests attending a dinner party.
The petitioner said when she approached the New Town police SHO to find out the whereabouts of the missing persons he expressed his ignorance about the case and remarked that the matter was related to intelligence agencies and he could do nothing.
She said the arrested men were not involved in any unlawful activity and prayed to the court to order their release. She said if they were involved in any criminal activity they must be brought to book through proper legal course.
Meanwhile, the judge ordered Executive District Officer (Health) Chakwal to reinstate a lady doctor in the District Headquarter (DHQ) hospital who was relieved of her duties by the medical superintendent in January this year on charges of misconduct and mismanagement.
The judge also directed the health officer to make sure that the doctor gets back the money deducted from her salary, and put off the case till August 29 to decide about her salary withheld since January.
Dr Rakhshanda Bakht, who worked in the DHQ Chakwal as woman medical officer under a United Nations programme, moved the LHC Rawalpindi bench through Aqeel Abbas Haider advocate against the orders of the medical superintendent.
In her application, she said the MS asked her to stay away from duty with no orders for her transfer or suspension. Dr Bakht said she wrote to the EDO health for further enquiry and the cancellation of the orders of MS, but he sustained the orders. She also wrote to the Punjab health ministry for her reinstatement but to no avail.
The LHC judge in his orders said that the doctor would continue on her present post till 2008.
Source: Dawn
Date:8/21/2007
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