Shehbaz Sharif assures IHC of resolving missing persons' issue

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has assured the Islamabad High Court (IHC) of resolving the missing persons’ issue, ARY News reported on Friday.

According to details, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the missing persons’ case related to the disappearance of journalist Mudassar Mahmood Naro and five others.

The prime minister appeared before the Islamabad High Court to apprise it of the government’s measures to address the missing persons issue.

At the outset of the hearing, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah: “The court has troubled you (PM Shehbaz Sharif) as the case is about a major issue.” The IHC chief justice remarked that the state is not responding as per its responsibility.

“A chief executive wrote in his book that citizens were picked up and sent to other countries,” Athar Minallah said, adding that it seems like it was probably the ‘state’s policy’. He noted that it was a constitutional court and believes in civilian supremacy.

“The court considered it appropriate to tell you [premier] what the issue actually is. The commission was formed to address the issue of missing persons but the proceedings were hurtful,” the IHC chief justice said.

He said that the state is responsible for redressing the sufferings of missing persons’ families. “Detention centres are there, from where people have been recovered, but no action was taken,” the chief justice added.

“The court wants the issue to be solved and this is the reason that it asked the prime minister to appear before it”, Justice Minallah maintained.

Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz Sharif noted that he would not evade his responsibility under any pretext. The prime minister told the court that Mudassar Naro’s son has urged him to find his father.

The prime minister assured the Islamabad High Court that missing persons will be reunited with their families, vowing to resolve the issue.

In the last hearing on July 4, IHC ordered the premier to ensure that the missing persons were produced in the next hearing, warning that the failure to do so would require him to appear in person on the said date and give an explanation.