The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued a summons for caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on February 19 in connection with the failure to locate purportedly missing Baloch students.
This development transpired during the hearing of a petition on the implementation of recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances by IHC’s Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani.
Established in 2011, the commission’s primary aim is to trace missing individuals and assign accountability to those responsible, whether individuals or organizations.
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In a previous session last November, the IHC had cautioned that legal action could be taken against the interim premier and others if they did not succeed in reuniting the missing Baloch students with their families. The Attorney General for Pakistan, during that hearing, informed the court that out of 50 missing persons, 22 had been located, while the whereabouts of the remaining 28 were still unknown.
During today’s hearing, Justice Kayani expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of progress in recovering the missing persons, stating, “The punishment for enforced disappearances should be the death penalty.” He added, “Usually, the death penalty is awarded once, but in these cases, the punishment should be given twice.”
The judge announced the summons for the caretaker prime minister and hinted at issuing directives for the incoming premier to appear before the court in due course.
Assistant Attorney General Usman Ghumman stated that the government required more time in the case and mentioned the recovery of another missing Baloch student. However, Justice Kayani, while refraining from summoning the director generals of the Military Intelligence and the Inter-Services Intelligence, emphasized his generosity in the matter.
Consequently, the IHC has directed PM Kakar to appear in court at 10 am on February 19 (Monday) to provide an explanation as to why legal action should not be taken against him.
