By DPA
Islamabad : Pakistan’s Supreme Court Monday stepped up pressure on law enforcers to locate scores of missing people, instructing the chief of a national intelligence agency to produce an illegally detained man within one hour or face imprisonment.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry ordered the head of Federal Investigation Agency, Tariq Pervez, to produce Abdul Basit, who has been missing since 2004 after he was arrested on suspicion of plotting to kill President Pervez Musharraf.
Chaudhry gave the official an hour to comply with the order.
“If you fail to locate him, you will be sent to prison,” said the judge, who has frequently ruled against state authorities since he was appointed by Musharraf in 2005.
Human rights activists claim hundreds of people have been picked up by state agencies, primarily under the pretext of fighting terrorism. Many have been held for years without trial.
The Supreme Court took up the case of the missing persons last year after aggrieved families and rights organisations held protest rallies.
On its orders, authorities have so far produced more than 200 persons detained illegally.
However, the actions of the court are believed to be one of the reasons for Musharraf’s suspension of Chaudhry in March for abuse of office. The judge was reinstated in July following mass demonstrations across the country.