IHC orders production of Zardari aide by July 26

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday ordered intelligence agencies working under the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defence to produce a ‘missing’ aide of former president Asif Ali Zardari in five days “failing which the court will pass a judgment and they will have to face consequences”.

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani categorically remarked that the missing man, Nawab Ali Laghari, was in the custody of intelligence agencies and they “will have to face repercussions of the judgment” if they did not produce him before the court in the next five days.

Justice Kayani directed the officials concerned to produce Laghari by July 26, saying that representatives of the agencies and the investigation officer in the case might sit together and decide how to produce Laghari, as “apparently, the victim is nowhere else but in their custody”.

The remarks came after the Intelligence Bureau (IB) submitted a reply, saying the victim was not in its custody. The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence (MI) had already denied having any information about the missing aide.

Earlier, Barrister Qasim Nawaz Abbasi, counsel for Laghari, placed additional documents before the court, stating that the interior minister had told the media on April 15 that “an important development has taken place regarding the detenue” and that he had spoken to the ISI and IB directors-general.

“This fact alone is sufficient to arrive at the conclusion that the whereabouts of the detenue are well into the knowledge of official respondents,” he stated, while alleging that the respondents had also “tried to threaten [the] complainant” and a related application submitted to the SHO Lohi Bher was still unattended.

The counsel claimed that no one, but the intelligence agencies, could have taken custody of the victim “when the dots are connected”. He said Laghari was picked up from his home and the investigators could easily identify the vehicles and where they went from there with the help of Safe City cameras.

Meanwhile, Barrister Abbasi told The Express Tribune that SSP (operations) Sajid Kiyani and DSP Malik Naeem had earlier indicated before the court that the victim was in the custody of intelligence agencies.

He said the court had given enough time to the agencies to produce the victim but they denied having his custody.

He said Laghari’s spouse Badran had, in her petition, pointed fingers at the interior secretary, submitting that her husband “is in illegal confinement of respondent number 3 [interior secretary].”

Barrister Abbasi quoted the petitioner as saying that on April 4, she was in the house along with her husband (Laghari) and children when some people knocked at the door and identified themselves as ‘government officials’.

According to the petitioner, Laghari and one of his cousins were asked to produce their computerised national identity cards (CNICs), after which they picked Laghari, threw him inside their vehicle and sped away.

Barrister Abbasi said the petitioner went to the Lohi Bher police station, but the SHO refused to register an FIR, and only did so after the matter was highlighted in the media.

Stating that Laghari was still missing, the counsel prayed to the court to direct the Inspector General of Police to recover Laghari and produce him before the court.

Justice Kayani, while directing the officials to produce Laghari before the court, adjourned the case till July 26.

Source: The Express Tribune