PESHAWAR, Jan 8: Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan on Tuesday said 2012 was the year of missing persons as around 1,142 detainees were freed by the law-enforcement and security agencies, while 1,114 were shifted to the government’s internment centres.

During a meeting here, the CJ told reporters that after completion of internment period, 1,114 internees would face trial at anti-terrorism courts.

He said he had thoroughly studied the missing person phenomenon and found some state institutions behind it.

“We tried to bring these institutions within the ambit of law and repeatedly conveyed to them that they are bound to surrender to the rule of law and authority of the court,” he said.

Justice Dost Mohammad said last year, the rate of disposal of cases by the high court and the subordinate judiciary in the province was impressive despite shortage of judges.

He said in 2012, 20,636 cases were instituted in the high court, whereas the cases disposed of totaled 15,847, which was around 76 per cent of the total cases.

According to the chief justice, in district courts across the province, 229,068 cases were instituted and 220,787 were disposed of; 1,270 cases were referred to anti-terrorism courts and 1,161 were decided; 7,401 cases were instituted before the labour courts and 6491 were decided; 82 references were sent for trial before the accountability court and 79 were decided.

Also, 92 cases were sent to the special anti-narcotics courts and 64 were decided; 32 cases referred to the special customs and anti-smuggling courts and 31 were decided; and 430 cases were instituted in special anti-corruption courts and 419 were decided.

Justice Dost Mohammad said currently, 13 judges had been working at the high court against the sanctioned strength of 20.

He said the high court had decided several cases, which had impact on vast majority of the people.

According to him, on the court’s orders, compensation to the tune of Rs5 million was paid by the Airblue management to the legal heirs of all 146 passengers died in the 2010 plane crash except for those of 14 over litigation.

He said the court also ordered re-investigation into the plane crash by foreign experts over faulty probe by local experts, and complete shake-up and inspection of all planes of PIA and private airliners.

He said the high court also got encroachments removed from 1,078 kanals of land in graveyards in different parts of the province.

The chief justice said the orders were issued for increasing compensation for families of such personnel of levies and other forces, who died in the line of duty; payment of timely pension to retired government servants; appointment of female probation officers on divisional level; inclusion of a separate section in nikkah form for mentioning dowry articles and its worth; legislation by the government for streamlining affairs of rent-a-car business and removal of constructions made in the historical Shahi Bagh.

He further said the court had ordered the provincial and federal governments to make appropriate laws for checking inhuman customary practices of swara and ghag as the earlier law on the subject was ineffective and full of loopholes.

Justice Dost Mohammad recounted several ongoing and new projects including approval given by the government for construction of judicial complexes in different districts including Mardan, Haripur, Mansehra, Charssada, Kohat and Karak. He added that a circuit bench of the high court had started functioning last year in a renovated government building and soon construction work would start on construction of a spacious building for the purpose.

Later, a ceremony was held here where the UNDP representatives handed over 22 motorcycles to the high court for process servers in Malakand region under the Strengthening Rule of Law in Malakand project.