ISLAMABAD: During the hearing of the Balochistan unrest and missing persons’ case on Thursday, the Supreme Court ordered the interior secretary to appear at its next hearing on Feb 20 and adjourned the matter to the said date, DawnNews reported.

A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk, heard the hearing of the case today.

During the hearing, the court ordered the production of the interior secretary and the defence secretary before it.

The Additional Interior Secretary informed the bench that the secretaries were engaged in a meeting of formation commanders and intelligence agencies pertaining to missing persons.

Justice Nasirul Mulk said the court had ordered them to appear at its previous hearing, adding that they would have to abide by the court’s directives.

Following an interval, the defence secretary appeared in the court whereas the interior secretary could not come since he was out of country.

The defence secretary informed the court that a meeting of officers had been called regarding relevant missing persons and sought more time for positive developments to take place.

Responding to which, Justice Nasirul Mulk remarked that the interior and defence secretaries had been called because both officials handled the intelligence agencies and police respectively, adding that they would have to decide as to who would cooperate with the court in the case.

Moreover, the defence secretary said he was thankful that the court understood their stance.

Meanwhile, Justice Gulzar said it was not just a matter of understanding, rather the issue was very serious and added that everyone, including the international media, was talking about it.

He said if anyone was involved in any illegal activities, then investigation should be carried out as per the law.

Justice Nasirul Mulk remarked that the case had been pending in court since 2010.

He said a look at the case’s order sheet showed the same assurances given over and over again and that there was no concrete progress in the case.

He added that they should keep the families of missing persons in mind.

The defence secretary said the number of missing persons had reduced from 1100 to 88 upon which Justice Nasirul Mulk said there should be no person missing altogether.

Additional Attorney General Shah Khawar said those army personnel who had been nominated in the case had returned to the military again and added that a request had been submitted with the army which sought to try the officers under the Army Act.

Justice Nasirul Mulk said the matter was not relevant to the court and that it was only concerned with the data of missing persons.

He moreover said Army personnel were nominated in the case and it was not known as to where they were stationed now..

He said the Interior Secretary had been called so that he could ascertain their whereabouts so that they could be investigated.

Justice Nasirul Mulk said if the army was convinced that the nominated personnel had committed an offence, they could investigate them under the Army act and that the court had no issue.

The court ordered the interior secretary to appear at its next hearing which was adjourned to Feb 20.