SC orders to produce missing persons till Nov 28

Dunya News

SC orders Defence Minister to appear in person if missing persons are not produced till November 28.

Lahore (Dunya News) – The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Secretary of Defence to produce 35 missing persons. The SC ruled that the missing persons would be prosecuted if found guilty.

The CJP in his remarks, ordered Minister of Defence to appear before the court if Secretary Defence fails to produce the missing persons till November 28.

It is worth mentioning here that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself keeps portfolio of Defence Ministry.

Earlier, a three member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard the plea regarding recovery of missing persons at Supreme Court Lahore Registry.

The Chief Justice of Pakistan ordered the Secretary of Defence to produce 35 missing persons by 8 pm.

Additional Defence Secretary informed the court that Defence Secretary was on leave. He requested for more time to produce the missing persons in the court.

The CJP showed annoyance over non-implementation of the court’s orders. "If the Defence Secretary was ill, his responsibilities should be given to someone else," the CJP remarked.

The court also directed the Additional Defence Secretary to contact PM, Defence Minister or whosoever was the person concerned to implement the orders.

The CJP warned of consequences if the order was not implemented.

The bench stated that a case could be registered against Additional Secretary of Defence, if the missing persons were not produced before the given deadline.