Mashwani's brothers case: Secretary Defense summoned again on Aug 20

Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday again summoned the defense secretary on August 20 in a petition filed for the recovery of the missing brothers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) social media in-charge Azhar Mashwani.

IHC Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the petition filed for the recovery of two missing brothers of Azhar Mashwani.

Additional Attorney General Munawar Iqbal Dogal, Interior Secretary, Director General (DG) Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Police Operations appeared before the court.

The defense secretary did not appear in the court because of being abroad. The court asked the interior secretary if he has to say anything or if he will submit the report only. The judge also inquired if the Secretary of Defense was present in the court.

The Additional Attorney General told the court that not the Defense Secretary, the Joint Secretary of Defense has come to the court. The Defense Secretary is out of the country since August 11, there is also a jurisdictional issue in this case.

The court remarked: “You are federation, you have the authority, you have defense secretary and interior secretary, don't make this a matter of ego”.

The court summoned the defense secretary again on August 20 and remarked, “I hope this case will be over by next Tuesday."

It is pertinent to note that after the application was disposed of by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on August 5, Azhar Mashwani's father approached the IHC.

The LHC had disposed of the petition filed for the recovery of the brothers of PTI social media in-charge Azhar Mashwani based on withdrawal.

The petitioner's counsel told the court that Mashwani received a WhatsApp call that the hostages were with the intelligence agencies. Since the hostages are in the custody of federal agencies, we withdraw the petition.