Expressing its annoyance over the press conference held by Inspector General of Frontier Corps (FC), Major General, Obaidullah Khan Khattak on June 2 regarding the worsening law and order situation of Balochistan, the Supreme Court has sought the transcript of that IG FC's news conference. A three-member bench led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry resumed the hearing of Balochistan case on Monday.
During the course of hearing, the bench observed that it was not the business of a uniformed official to hold press conferences. The bench hinted at summoning the army chief to ask him how the country should be run and what he (the army chief) could do in that regard. It further said that video of the IG FC's press conference would also be sent to the Chief of Army Staff and the defence secretary.
The Chief Justice observed that the situation in Balochistan had already been unstable and the IG FC was still holding a press conference, "which is contrary to the court orders." He questioned whether the IG FC was looking forward to engaging himself in a confrontation with the court.
The Chief Justice observed that the situation of the province was alarming, adding that the deteriorating of law and order situation in Balochistan was a matter of serious concern. The Chief Justice further said that 20 people had been killed in the province during last two to three days.
He also asked the counsel for FC Raja Irshad that every other case was against the FC and the bodies turned out to be of those who had provided evidence against them. Drawing the attention of the IF FC, the CJP further said: "conduct trial of the accused, don't murder them". Justice Jawwad S Khawaja remarked that some 835 incidents occurred, but no one was caught. "We are neither the enemy of the agencies nor the agencies are our enemy; we are ready to give credit to them, but they must perform," he added. The Chief Justice said that member parliament Sadiq Imrani had said that he had himself eyewitnessed that FC was rounding up two persons. "If you are bent upon doing this with Balochistan, then Army Chief would be called, we could pass an order under Article 190," he added.
Attorney General for Pakistan Irfan Qadir presented a report pertaining to the number of province's missing persons. He said that the details of as many as 123 missing persons had been established and that 23 missing persons had been recovered. He further informed the bench that the government also appreciated the efforts of the court regarding Balochistan issue.
Raja Irshad, the counsel for IG FC told the court that the press conference was held to highlight the acts of foreign agencies in Balochistan's law and order situation. Upon this, the Chief Justice said that if there were foreign agencies present in Balochistan, then the responsibility lay with the federal government to deal with them.
The lawyer representing mobile phone companies, Raza Kazim, told the court that the PTA had allowed issuing only five SIMs to each person, and added that the companies had spent $30 million to provide a tracking system to agencies but they did not cooperate with the police. The hearing was adjourned till June 19.
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