Pakistan's Supreme Court today issued a contempt notice to Frontier Corps chief Maj Gen Ejaz Shahid after he repeatedly ignored summons to appear before a bench hearing the case of 35 people detained without charge.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, which is hearing the case, warned it would be forced to summon "others" if the government fails to produce "missing persons" believed to be in the custody of security and intelligence agencies.
The bench had taken up the case of 35 "missing persons" from Balochistan. Officials have informed the court that two of them died in custody while three others had been located.
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Authorities have failed to meet several deadlines set by the court to produce the 30 remaining "missing persons".
The Frontier Corps chief was issued the contempt of court notice as he did not attend today's hearing even after being summoned by the bench several times.
The bench told Defence Minister Khwaja Asif that if the remaining "missing persons" are not produced before it, the judges would be forced to summon "others".
Asif asked the court to conduct the proceedings in-camera as all the information regarding the "missing persons" could not be revealed in an open court. The Chief Justice rejected his request and said such information can be given in a sealed envelope.
During the hearing, the Defence Ministry's Additional Secretary told the bench that the government is working hard to trace all the persons.
The apex court had earlier observed that allegations in the "missing persons" case, directly or indirectly, have led to either the Frontier Corps or the Inter-Services Intelligence.
It had also dismissed the Defence Secretary's move to provide details about three detainees as "peanuts".
"Don't give us this lollipop. The Prime Minister and army chief are bound to follow this court's orders. We are not sitting idle here," the Chief Justice said.
The Chief Justice has ordered that a case should be filed over the death of two missing persons. Cases should also be registered against officials who had taken the missing persons into custody, he said.
