IHC gives AGP till Friday to recover missing poet Ahmed Farhad

The Islamabad High Court ordered the recovery of missing poet Ahmed Farhad Shah by May 24 and granted the state counsel an extension for the same.  Shah, a journalist and poet, went missing from his Islamabad home on May 14. During a hearing presided over by Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, the interior secretary and inspector general (IG) of Islamabad police were present in court, along with the attorney general for Pakistan (AGP). At the outset of the hearing, the AGP requested an extension of two to four days for the recovery of Shah, assuring the court that the counsel would be able to locate him within the timeframe. The court granted the requested extension, with Justice Kayani questioning whether the AGP's statements were made with the federal government's consultation. The court also summoned the senior superintendent of police (SSP) operations to the rostrum and inquired if the police recorded any statements. "The senior officer was not present, therefore, we recorded a written statement of a junior officer and sent the report to the secretary of defence," the SSP responded. "This is your job, you have to do this" Justice Kayani remarked. Read ‘IHC castigates ISI in poet's abduction casee Commenting on the absence of the defence secretary, the petitioner's lawyer Imaan Mazari, argued that the secretary has never appeared in court whenever he is summoned. "If a prime minister can come to court, so can everyone else," said Justice Kiyani. Mazari expressed frustration over recurring instances of individuals being forcefully disappeared. "It always happens, they pick up people and then say that we don't have them," she remarked. She added that it was not just one case and emphasized that she represents such cases every day. Mazari then pressed the state counsel regarding progress made in the past six days, suggesting that if the agencies were not involved, the kidnappers should "at least be traceable". The court, while giving the order to recover the missing poet by Friday, adjourned the hearing. Yesterday, the IHC ordered the Islamabad Police to obtain a statement from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) sector commander and submit a report today (Tuesday) regarding the alleged enforced disappearance of poet Ahmed Farhad Shah.

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