Islamabad High Court judge Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani has said that half of the government and officials would be prosecuted if the tracers were summoned and their statements were taken.

While hearing the Baloch students’ disappearance case, the judge said that so far only attention has been paid to the recovery of the missing persons. They have never gone beyond that, he said and warned that if the tracers “are summoned and statements are taken, half of the government and officials will be prosecuted.”

According to the BBC report, notices have been issued to the secretaries of interior and defence on the petition for the recovery of the missing citizen of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Khawaja Khurshid. The court has directed collecting reports by taking information from the secretaries, ISI, MI and FIA.

Justice Kiyani has issued orders on the petition filed by Khalifa Khurshid, the wife of missing citizen Khawaja Khurshid. It was brought to the court’s attention that Khurshid had contested the AJK Legislative Assembly election from the Neelum Valley.

The petitioner’s lawyers had requested the court to issue notices to the parties involved, which Justice Kayani rejected, stating that the notices cannot be issued until reports are received from the ministries of defence and interior.

The judge remarked that the policymakers have “little understanding of the consequences of their actions.” He “regretted” that the responsibility of the courts was now limited to the recovery of missing persons.

Petitioner’s counsel Imaan Mazari stated that if Rashid Hussain had returned to Pakistan from Dubai in 2019, it was the government’s responsibility to trace him. Since his arrival from Dubai, she said that Hussain’s whereabouts have remained unknown.

Justice Kiyani said that he has requested the Islamabad High Court chief justice to form a larger bench to address this issue.