ISLAMABAD - Islamabad High Court Monday directed the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief to ensure presence of an army major before it on next hearing scheduled for March 14 of missing persons case.
Following petition of aggrieved families of two people including Dr Qayyum and Dr Waheed, Justice Anwarul Haq Qureshi of IHC asked higher authorities of ISI to direct Major Tariq to appear before the court in a case of two missing doctors.
Families of Doctor Qayyum and Doctor Waheed had filed a petition with the court saying the two had gone missing from Rahim Yar Khan last August.
The families, in the petition, claimed that Major Tariq had allegedly kept the two doctors under illegal custody and subjected them to torture in agency’s office located at Sector G-9 in Islamabad. ISI authorities believed the doctors had links with banned outfits and were working against the interests of the country.
The court adjourned the hearing of the case until March 14 and directed the ISI authorities in written to make Major Tariq appear before the court to justify his position in the relevant case.
Meanwhile, a bench of Islamabad High Court on Monday issued show-cause notice to Federal Minister for Housing Faisal Saleh Hayat in contempt of court case asking him to clear his position for not complying with the court order.
The court issued show cause notices to the minister over not restoring two employees on the court verdict.
It is pertinent to mention here that the said minister had fired two officials of his ministry from their jobs which made the victims to challenge their termination in the Islamabad High Court. After hearing of the petition, the court had ordered the department to restore the employees. However, the employees have not been restored after passage of two months.
On Monday, Islamabad High Court issued show-cause notices to Faisal Saleh Hayat and Secretary Housing and ordered them to submit replies by the first week of March.
Federal Minister for Housing and Works Saleh Hayat had suspended officials last year in June for allegedly causing a loss of millions of rupees to the national exchequer and ordered inquiries into ongoing projects of the ministry.
The suspensions follow reports of embezzlement by contractors in development projects undertaken by the ministry. Acting Secretary Housing and Works MB Awan had issued suspension orders for chief engineer Lahore Mian Masood Akhtar and executive engineers Fayyaz Muhammad and Rana Saleem Akhtar of the Public Works Department (PWD) for manipulating the bidding process.