Zubair Qureshi
After a strict warning by Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Athar Minallah police on Friday recovered all the ten juvenile workers along with their parents.
Noon Police’s Station House Officer (SHO) was given the task yo arrest the main suspect, the brick kiln owner and recover the child workers as a day earlier on Thursday, the IHC CJ had raises serious questions on the performance of the police.
Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Hamza Shafqaat on Thursday had informed the court that 10 juvenile labourers working in a brick kiln had been moved away before a team from the district administration and police raided the site.
Shafqaat appeared before IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah in response to a petition seeking recovery of the children.
The chief justice directed the district administration to produce the minor labourers before the court by Jan 2, else the chief commissioner would appear in person on the date.
The DC said the district administration had made efforts for the recovery of the children.
The administration has also contacted the petitioner’s counsel as he appeared to be familiar with the area and facts of the case.
Manzoora Bibi in her petition had stated that the owner of a bricks company located at Haji Camp Road, Islamabad that falls in Noon Police precinct had illegally detained the children, aged less than eight years, as bonded laborers.
The court in its order had noted, “The practice of bonded labor prevalent in brick kilns. It is noted that bonded labor in any form or manifestation is the most detestable practice and intolerable in a society governed under the Constitution. It is prohibited under the Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act 1992.”
The recovered children along with the main suspect are to be produced before the court on Jan 2 (today).
