QUETTA, Oct 10: Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said here on Wednesday the Supreme Court would issue an effective interim order on the law and order situation in Balochistan on Thursday.

He stated this during the hearing of a petition filed by the Balochistan High Court Bar Association on the breakdown of law and order and human rights violations in the restive province at the Quetta registry of Supreme Court.

A three-member bench comprising the chief justice, Justice Khilji Arif Hussain and Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja expressed concern over increase in incidents of target killings in Khuzdar where the main bazaar has remained closed for several days.

The chief justice said killings were taking place in Khuzdar almost every day. Innocent people were being gunned down and even journalists were not safe now.

Had the administration and police performed their duty honestly and effectively to protect people’s lives, the situation would not have deteriorated to such an extent, he observed.

When the chief justice asked the inspector general of police how many deputy superintendents of police had been posted as district police officers, the IG said about a dozen DSPs were working there.

The chief justice asked him to immediately appoint deserving officers as DPOs and issue notifications to that effect. “You (IG) are not confined to Quetta; you are officer of the entire province.”

The chief justice said either the IG was not using his mind or the advocate general was not keeping him informed about the actual position.

When the court took up the case of a jirga held in Bakar area of Dera Bugti in which 13 girls were made Wani (a custom to give away girls in marriage to settle disputes), MPA Mir Tariq Masuri, who had been summoned by the court, said he had not presided over the jirga.

He accused his uncle of being behind the report with the aim of damaging his political career.

The chief justice asked him to sit down and not to be emotional. He took up newspapers which had reported the matter and said the problem could not be solved without ascertaining facts.

Mir Tariq Masuri said he had come to know about the matter from newspapers.

The Dera Bugti deputy commissioner informed the court that Tariq Masuri might not be involved but something had taken place. A local officer was investigating the matter and would submit a report in the evening, he added.

The chief justice said that state within a state would not be allowed and regretted that officials of security agencies were not cooperating with the court. “The prime duty of law-enforcement and intelligence agencies is to establish peace.”

The court ordered Commandant Shahbaz of the Frontier Corps to submit a list of non-duty paid vehicles and weapons issued to people.

Commandant Shahbaz said the defence secretary had cancelled all licences of weapons and non-tax paid vehicles issued to certain people.

Justice Khilji asked the FC officer to hand over the impounded vehicles to the customs authorities or the provincial chief secretary.