Centre, spy agencies deny accusations

The federation and intelligence agencies in their joint response filed in the Supreme Court on Friday denied all charges levelled by Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal a day ago, including custody of missing persons, existence of 'death squads' or an ongoing military operation in Balochistan.
In pursuance of the court orders, the federation and intelligence agencies submitted a joint reply before a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry that resumed hearing of a petition on the law and order situation in the province filed by Balochistan High Court Bar Association. The statement said that 'death squads' did not exist within the agencies and that intelligence agencies did not have any missing person in their custody.
The Balochistan Chief Secretary told the bench that a high-level joint meeting of the Defence Minister, Army Chief, Information Minister, Postal Services Minister, Secretary Defence, Director-General of ISI, Principal Secretary to the PM, Chief Secretary and Attorney-General was held to discuss Balochistan issue in compliance with the court orders.
Emphasising the need for political will to resolve the Balochistan issue, the Chief Justice remarked that the President, the Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan will have to work towards a political solution. He further said the bench will hear the instant matter in accordance with law and Constitution, adding that nobody should have any doubts about the jurisdiction of the court and its authority.
During the course of the hearing, Attorney-General Irfan Qadir attempted to submit a separate reply from the federation over the statement of Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal which the court refused and observed that it had already asked the Chief Secretary Balochistan to do so.
Chief justice Chaudhry observed that the court will not comment on the statement of Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal. However, he stated that Mengal's return was a great breakthrough. He hinted that he may visit the affected areas in Balochistan. The bench was informed that payment of compensation to the affected people in Balochistan was underway upon which Chief Justice observed that compensation is not an alternative to the loss of human life.
Meanwhile, the court directed the provincial government to submit a weekly report on target killings and law and order situation in the province to the court; and made proposals submitted by provincial minister Sadiq Imrani on improving the law and order situation of the province as a part of the record. Directing the Chief Secretary Balochistan to distribute copies of the reply among all parties of the case, the court decided to conduct further hearing of the matter in the Quetta Registry from October 8.