Pakistan’s Supreme Court has expressed frustration over the long-running missing persons issue, with Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail saying the government could have resolved the issue if it wanted to.
The court was hearing a case related to missing persons when the additional attorney general informed the court about the government’s decision to appoint Justice (retd) Fakir Muhammad Khokhar as the new head of the commission on missing persons, replacing Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, Express. Informed news.
The attorney general also mentioned that the government intends to establish a missing persons court through new legislation.
In response, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar commented that such legislation would be necessary to establish the court.
The attorney general indicated that the cabinet committee was working on the legislative process and was asking for a timeline to complete it.
Justice Mandokhail, however, pointed out that the law already exists and stated that making someone disappear is a criminal act. He emphasized that if a crime has been committed, a trial must be held and if no crime has been committed, the person must be released.
The court was told that the government wanted to address the issue of missing persons systematically, but Justice Mandokhail responded by saying that if the government really wanted to resolve the matter, it would have already addressed it.
Additionally, Judge Hassan Rizvi asked how many missing persons the commission had recovered and whether the persons found were revealing their whereabouts.
The registrar of the missing persons commission explained that those recovered do not reveal where they had been.
Justice Masarat Hilali called for new legislation specific to missing persons, and Justice Mandokhail concluded by saying: “We can only hope that the government resolves the issue. “We cannot tell Parliament to legislate on this matter.”
The court then adjourned the hearing indefinitely, leaving the issue unresolved for the time being.
