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the constitution, is bound to formulate policies for the promotion of social and
economic well-being of the people, which includes provision of facilities to
citizens for work and adequate livelihood, with a reasonable rest and leisure,
etc..
“In the cases of Bank of Punjab vs Haris Steel Industries, Liaquat Husain
vs the Federation Article 9 has been interpreted and its scope has been enlarged
to each and every aspect of human life. Therefore, whenever a policy is framed
with reference to uplifting the socio-economic conditions of the citizens, (the)
object should be to ensure enforcement of their fundamental rights.”
Non-availability of power amounted to depriving citizens of one of the
essentials of life, the court said.
Administration of justice
The Adiala Eleven
The Supreme Court remained seized of the plight of the Adiala group
detainees who had been taken into custody by a military intelligence agency
after they had been acquitted by an anti-terrorism court and a high court had
struck down Punjab government’s order for their detention. No substantial
relief to them was possible.
The 11 detainees included three sons of an old widow, Ruhaifa. In a
petition to the Supreme Court she challenged the military authorities’ decision
to try the detainees, three of whom had died in a Peshawar hospital in 2011,
under the Army Act. A fourth detainee also died before the petition was heard.
On January 30 the court was informed by the counsel for ISI and MI that
out of the seven surviving detainees four had been admitted to the Lady Reading
Hospital in Peshawar, while the other three were bring held at an internment
centre at Parachinar, established under the Action in Aid of the Civil Power
Regulation. The latter were in the custody of the provincial government (KPK).
The court ordered the counsel to present all the seven surviving detainees
on February 9. At one point the Chief Justice, who was heading the SC bench,
told the counsel for ISI and MI that they were required to produce the detainees
because the government had given them in their custody. The court also ordered
the counsel to file a statement explaining the circumstances in which the four
prisoners had died.
The detainees were not produced on the appointed date. On February 10th the court directed the agencies to produce the seven men by February 13.
This time the court order was complied with and the seven detainees – Mazharul-Haq,
Shafiq-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Shafiq, Dr-Niaz Ahmed, Abdul Majid,
Gulroze, and Abdul Basit were brought to the court.
All the seven men looked frail and weak, and were unable to speak or
walk. Those present in the court room could hardly bear the sight of the
disease-racked skeletons. The CJ ordered their full medical examination and
asked the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Secretary to report on the detainees’