PoJK is “foreign territory”, Pakistan govt lawyer tells High Court on habeas corpus petition concerning ‘missing’ poet

Islamabad [Pakistan], June 1 (ANI): Admitting that Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) is not part of Pakistan, the government lawyer has told the Islamabad High Court that the poet Ahmed Farhad Shah, who is in police custody in PoJK, cannot be brought to the court in the federal capital as he is in “foreign territory” that does not come under the country’s jurisdiction, according to Dunya News.

At the outset of the proceedings, Additional Attorney General Munawar Iqbal Duggal stated that there were cases registered against Farhad in Azad Kashmir, and he was on physical remand till June 2.

He stated that Farhad’s family had met him, so the habeas corpus petition be disposed of.

The Dunya News report said that Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani presided over the proceedings on the plea filed by Arooj Zainab, Farhad’s spouse.

Petitioner’s lawyer Imaan Mazari said her client had not only asked for the return of her husband, but also sought action against those responsible for his enforced disappearance, Dunya reported. .

The High Court remarked that the case would culminate only on the appearance of Farhad in court.

In his argument, AAG Duggal stated that Kashmir was a foreign territory with its own constitution and courts, where judgements of Pakistani courts were treated similarly to judgments of foreign courts, Dunya News reported.

The petitioner’s attorney told the court that Farhad’s family had travelled from Islamabad to the Dhirkot police station, but when they arrived, they were told that he had been transferred to Muzaffarabad due to the inclusion of sections relating to the charges of terrorism.

When Justice Kayani asked the Islamabad prosecutor general where Farhad had been before his detention on May 29, he said that the PoJK court would deal with it.

Justice Kayani remarked that everyone should work within the law, to which the prosecutor general maintained that he works within the law, reported Dunya News.

“We have to determine the misuse of law,” Kayani said to the petitioner’s attorney’s argument that the court should also consider cases involving the misuse of laws and procedures.

The court adjourned the hearing of the case until June 7, rejecting the request to dispose of the petition for the recovery of poet Ahmed Farhad.