‘Worsening law and order situation, Court orders AG to submit report from IB, CID by 20th, AG says situation in Quetta ‘not as bad as in Karachi”
\nISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (BHC) on Monday rejected a report filed by the Balochistan chief secretary on the security situation in the province.
\nA three-member SC bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, also directed the Balochistan advocate general (AG) to submit on January 20 reports from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and CID on the law and order situation in Balochistan in the last three months.
\n\u201cNo one can live without a soul … and Balochistan is the soul of Pakistan,\u201d the court said while hearing a petition by Balochistan High Court Bar Association President Hadi Shakeel Ahmed on the deteriorating security situation in the province.
\nAs the hearing resumed, AG Amanullah Kunrani submitted a report on behalf of the chief secretary of Balochistan. But the court said the report was \u201cnot satisfactory\u201d because no steps had been taken to improve the security situation.
\nThe court directed the AG to submit reports from the IB and CID, adding, \u201cWe will also seek a report from the ISI, if need be.\u201d
\nKunrani told the court that the situation in Quetta \u201cis not as bad as in Karachi\u201d. Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, however, said Karachi was a cosmopolitan city having a population of 20 million people. He said the people of Karachi could move around freely but in Quetta \u201cno one can move alone\u201d. \u201cThe people of Quetta are scared [of the poor security situation],\u201d the judge said.
\nChief Justice Chaudhry said how could law and order be maintained when the provincial government was not serious to improve the situation. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to say anything on our own as there is a constitution which determines duties of the institutions,\u201d the chief justice said.
\nThe court adjourned the case till January 20.<\/p>\n