PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench on Wednesday directed a petitioner to assist the court on the point that under what provision of law Dr Shakil Afridi was required to be held in Peshawar Central Jail and whether his transfer to any other place within the country or abroad would be contrary to law.

The bench comprising PHC Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Ijaz Anwar Khan directed the petitioner, Advocate Mohammad Khursheed Khan, to also assist the court on the maintainability of his writ petition wherein he had sought direction from the court for the federal government not to send abroad Dr Shakil Afridi without permission of the court,

Dr Shakil Afridi, a former agency surgeon of Khyber Agency, who was taken into custody in May 2001 on suspicion of helping American CIA to trace Osama bin Laden through a fake vaccination campaign in Abbottabad, has presently been imprisoned in the Peshawar jail since his conviction by an assistant political agent on charges of having links with a banned outfit in 2012.

The petitioner had filed the instant writ petition after rumours surfaced that Dr Afridi might be sent abroad and handed over to the US government few months ago.

Directs petitioner to assist court on maintainability of his writ petition

The petitioner has sought direction from the high court for the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments not to send abroad Dr Shakil Afridi till final disposal of the petition.

He has prayed the court to further issue directives that in case Dr Afridi had to be sent abroad, permission from the high court should be taken in that regard. He requested that Dr Afridi should not be shifted from Peshawar jail to any other prison in the province or in any other province.

The petitioner claimed that he came to know that the then adviser to the former prime minister on foreign affairs had said that if the US government requested them then Pakistan government could consider handing over of Dr Afridi to it.

He alleged that Dr Afridi had carried out a fake vaccination drive and provided all information to the Americans that resulted into attack on Pakistan and killing of Osama bin Laden by them.

Waqar Ahmad Khan, an additional advocate general, appeared for the provincial government.

The bench observed that first they had to decide whether the present petition was maintainable or not. The bench asked the petitioner to argue his case on that point on next date, which would be fixed later.

The bench also questioned under what law Dr Afridi could only be kept in Peshawar prison and could not be transferred to any other jail in the province or in the country. The bench observed that the petitioner should also argue which law would be violated if Dr Afridi was shifted to any other prison or abroad.

It merits a mention that a petition of Dr Afridi challenging upholding of his conviction by an appellate forum of FCR Commissioner has been pending before the Fata Tribunal for around two years.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2017