ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday instructed relevant authorities to recover a senior Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) official by 2pm on Monday.
Sajid Gondal, a joint director at the SECP who previously worked as a journalist and reported on business and economic affairs for leading local newspapers, went missing on Thursday after he left his residence to visit a farm in the Chak Shahzad area, prompting his family to move the high court to ensure his safe recovery.
His official vehicle was found outside the National Agricultural Research Center, though the police could not find fingerprints on the car due to heavy downpour earlier in the day, reported the local media.
Hearing the habeas corpus petition filed by Gondal’s mother, the chief justice of the high court, Athar Minallah, directed the interior secretary and chief commissioner to appear before the court if Gondal was not recovered until the specified deadline.
He also instructed to refer the matter to the federal cabinet if the SECP official remained missing.
Gondal’s wife has already said that she suspects her husband has been “kidnapped by unidentified individuals.”
While it is not clear what happened to the SECP official at this stage, enforced disappearances have become a major cause of concern for Pakistani journalists and civil society activists.
Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari also responded to the incident by expressing her “concern” and admitting that it was her government’s responsibility “to ensure his early recovery.”
She also added that the police had been asked to register a First Information Report, though the law enforcement agency took its time and lodged it on Saturday. 

Disappearance of Sajid Gondal is of concern & we as govt have a duty to ensure his early recovery. Police has been directed to register an FIR. Protection of each citizen's life is our constitutional obligation. Rule of law must prevail - all must be dealt with acc to the law.

— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) September 4, 2020

According to some social media posts, Gondal’s disappearance could be a consequence of an investigative story that accused the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Information and Broadcasting, Lt. Gen. (r) Asim Saleem Bajwa, for misreporting his finances, saying that Gondal was a probable SECP source for some of the information in the write-up.
The journalist who filed the story, however, denied that the SECP joint director supplied any documents on information for the news that was denied by Bajwa in a recent Twitter post.
The prime minister’s adviser also announced his resignation from one of his official positions, though his resignation was not accepted by PM Imran Khan.