RAWALPINDI: The defe­nce ministry informed the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench on Thursday that retired Lt Col Inamur Rahim — who had been picked up from his residence in Askari 14, Rawalpindi — is in the custody of its subordinate agency and that he is being probed for his alleged violation of the Official Secret Act.

A representative of the defence ministry told Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf of the LHC that advocate Rahim was taken into custody under the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) for alleged violation of the Official Secret Act. The representiave did not specify exactly what violations had been committed by the detained lawyer.

Advocate Rahim had filed numerous petitions for the recovery of missing persons and against administrative orders of the army or armed forces. Moreover, he was the counsel in petitions filed against high-profile court martial proceedings about GHQ attack and conviction of naval officers and others.

Advocate Ahsanuddin Sheikh and retired Brigadier Wasaf Khan Niazi appeared before the court to argue for the petition seeking recovery of advocate Rahim.

Advocate Sheikh said that in case advocate Rahim had violated the Official Secret Act, he should have been dealt with in accordance with the law as revelations about his whereabouts had been made in the LHC after about three weeks of his disappearance.

Justice Rauf asked the deputy attorney general to apprise the court of the grounds for the arrest, and as he could not satisfy the judge, the court summoned the additional attorney general on Friday (today) in connection with the case.

On Dec 20, the LHC had directed the ministries of defence and interior to submit affidavits about the whereabouts of Mr Rahim.

The interior ministry denied custody of advocate Rahim, while the defence ministry confirmed that the retired officer had been taken into custody under the PAA.

According to an FIR registered about alleged abduction of the lawyer, advocate Rahim had been picked up by unknown people from his residence in Askari 14, which is considered a secured locality in the garrison city. The FIR states that Mr Rahim was asleep when unidentified individuals trespassed into his residence and forcibly kidnapped him while extending threats to family members. Since Dec 17, he whereabouts were not known. Earlier, Mr Rahim’s son Hasnain Inam told the Morgah police that someone rang the doorbell at around 12.30am on Dec 17.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2020