IHC declares arrest of Farhad unlawful

The Islamabad High Court has declared the arrest of poet Ahmed Farhad Ali Shah as unlawful. In its written decision, the court concluded that Ahmed Farhad had been subjected to forced disappearance and criticized the institutions for failing to recover him.

The court directed that Ahmed Farhad should record his statement before the Lohi Bher magistrate upon his return home. Additionally, the court ordered the Registrar of the Islamabad High Court to compile all cases of forced disappearance and submit them to the Chief Justice.

The Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court is to use his administrative authority to form a larger bench to handle these cases. The court also directed the Registrar’s Office to invite relevant institutions to the next session of the Criminal Justice Committee and to schedule national security-related cases for in-camera hearings.

Furthermore, after receiving an in-camera briefing from the heads of state agencies, the larger bench will hear these cases. The court also ordered that the larger bench should issue directives to prevent media reporting on these cases.