Islamabad: Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered the recording of the statement of Kashmiri poet Ahmed Farhad under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) by the investigating officer of Loi Bhir Police Station.
Following the order, the judge released the shelter for the poet’s recovery after ascertaining his whereabouts after confirming his arrest by the police in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Justice Kayani, after hearing the petition filed by Urooj Zainab, the poet’s wife, asked him to go to court if necessary.
“I know how to carry out my orders,” the judge said.
Zainab asked the IHC to recover her husband and find, investigate and punish those responsible for his disappearance.
Responding to the IHC order to ensure his recovery, Shahir went missing for 15 days before Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan on May 29, who said Farhad had been arrested and was in AJK police custody.
Shahir was transferred from Dhirkot to Muzaffarabad under various sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). The poet, known for his anti-Semitism prose, was reported missing during a demonstration in AJK in May.
Human rights lawyer Iman Mazari appeared in court, while journalist Hamid Mir appeared as a judicial assistant.
Additional Attorney General Munawwar Iqbal Dogal and Assistant Attorney General Usman Ghumman were also present in the court.
During the hearing, Mazari told the IHC that the anti-terrorism court in Muzaffarabad had rejected the poet’s bail appeal. Farhad’s wife told reporters that she had not disclosed the details of the bail denial.
Mazari told the court that the petitioner is currently filing a bail application in a higher forum.
Judge Kayani asked the lawyer; “Is there another Ahmed Farhad case?”
“First a lawsuit was filed, then another lawsuit was filed,” the lawyer said.
The judge said: “I think the problem is increasing. Now he said he is under judicial supervision.” The police also said that the case will be over if no one is arrested and produced within two days.
Adalat Kayani inquired about the presence of the poet before his arrest and said it was related to the forced removal.
“If the abducted person recovers, the petition for habeas corpus is rejected. They said that the evidence should also be given to identify the abductors,” the additional attorney general told the court that the matter would be revealed during the investigation.
Justice Kayani asked the AAG to show whether the investigating officer had gone to Kashmir and recorded Farhad’s statement.
“It is written that I am mentally and physically unable to give a statement. It is also written that he will appear in court or give a statement through a lawyer,” said Justice Kayani.
The judge also wrote to the chief justice on the issue and asked him to create a bigger bench for all the missing persons.
The judge said that if one judge had a different view, he sent the case to a larger bench so that others could look at it.
“The remaining members could not agree to call the intelligence chief,” the judge said.
He also referred the matter to the committee on how to enforce the law in Islamabad. “Respect the law, no one is above the law, including judges.”
The IHC judge said that the court has always supported the protection of poets’ rights. “The investigation will continue as a result of Ahmad Farhad’s statement to the judge.”
He said the agency should work within its limits.
Justice Kayani will be banned from working on CCTV and reporting on national security issues, he said.
