ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued directives to the concerned authorities to enforce Constitution in Balochistan and sought duly signed joint statement from the chief secretary, provisional police chief and Frontier Corps (FC) head over the prevailing law and order situation in the province.
A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, was hearing a petition filed by the Balochistan High Court Bar Association (BHCBA) regarding protection of lives and property of the people in Balochistan.
Balochistan Advocate General (AG) Amanullah Kanrani, Federation’s counsel Munir Piracha, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Yasin Azad and Raja Irshad, counsel for the agencies, also appeared before the court.
Admitting the fact of worsening law and order situation in the province, the top legal officer of Balochistan said even the members of the law enforcement agencies were not safe in Balochistan, but he could not say that the state apparatus had failed in the province. The advocate general contended that law and order situation in Balochistan related to mere 200 persons and was not an issue for the 6.5 million population of the province.
Lawyer of the Federation Munir Piracha submitted that after the passage of 18th Amendment, the Centre had no power to intervene in the matters of the provinces.
The chief justice remarked that the courts were being ridiculed, whereas no person of any clan was safe in the Balochistan even in the presence of all law enforcing agencies, as not a single culprit was brought to book so far.
A member of the bench Justice Khilji Arif Hussain said the graph of law and order in the province was deteriorating, adding if the provincial government was not able to control the situation then it a prime responsibility of the Centre to put things in the right perspective.
He further observed what action would be taken if the thing were out of control in the province, saying it was time for everybody to act with full might to save the country.
SBA President Yasin Azad said the Balochistan problem was getting out of hands, but nobody was ready to seriously talk on the real matter being faced by the province. Azad recommended that talks should be held at the highest level to address the real issues in Balochistan.
Later, the bench adjourned hearing of the case till today (Thursday).
Agencies add: During the hearing, the judges observed that there should be implementation of law in Balochistan and the issue could be resolved to some extent if local bodies elections were held.
The advocate general sought three months’ time to resolve the matter of missing persons as the issue was discussed at the highest level. During proceedings, the chief justice remarked that no one was safe in the province as people were being killed irrespective of their sect.
The counsel for spy agencies, Raja Irshad, said the FC would implement the court orders, on which the chief justice said the FC should give in writing when it was going produce the missing persons.