IHC directs meeting of missing journalist's legal heirs with government officials

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published 4 years ago

ISLAMABAD—The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the secretary interior to arrange a meeting of the legal heirs of missing journalist Mudassar Mehmood with the highest government officials.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, while hearing a petition filed by Rana Mehmood Ikram, father of the missing journalist, observed: "The buck stops at the prime minister and members of the federal cabinet because collectively they constitute the federal government." He added: "It is an onerous duty of the latter to dispel apprehensions and doubts of the petitioner and other loved ones of Mudassar Mehmood regarding involvement of the state or its institutions in his status as a missing person."

The court directed the interior secretary to arrange a meeting of the petitioner, mother, wife and the three-year-old son of Mehmood with the federal cabinet, the prime minister and other higher-ups.

The petitioner moved the court, stating that the state could not satisfy him regarding the status of his son, who went missing on August 19, 2018.