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New Delhi, Mar 31 (UNI) The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Centre, the Ministry of External Affairs and Commissioner of Delhi Police on a Habeas Corpus petition filed by the sister of two persons detained as suspects in the Kandahar plane hijack case.

Ruquaiya, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir had filed the petition seeking directions to the authorities to produce before the court her two brothers, Mushtaq Ahmed Rah and Mohammad Shafi Raj, arrested by Indian authorities on August 28, 2000 in Kathmandu, as suspects involved in the hijack.

A bench comprising Mr Justice B N Agarwal and Mr Justice A K Mathur issued notices after hearing Counsel for the petitioner, Sushil Balwada who pleaded that the whereabouts of the two brothers, arrested along with 25 others, were not known since their detention.

The petitioner has pleaded that her brothers were engaged in leather business in Kathmandu since 1995. The two were arrested during Nepal police's operation against suspected Kashmiri militants in Nepal. Out of the 27, seven are still languishing in police custody in some secret detention centres.

An Indian Airlines plane was hijacked to Kandhar and dreaded terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar, who was in a Kashmir jail, had to be released in exchange for safety of 150 passengers on board the plane. The then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh himself went to Kandahar to negotiate with Taliban militants the safe release of the passengers.

The petition also stated that the 75-year-old father of the detainees has been running from pillar to post to know the whereabouts of his sons. He has written to the Jammu and Kashmir government, the National Human Rights Commission and the Union Home Ministry for the safety of his sons, but to no avail.

Human Rights Commission has also not provided copy of the status report to the petitioner. Her father has also approached the President for help.

Hence, she has filed this writ petition under Article 3 of the Constitution, as the right to life of her two brothers was under threat.

The petitioner also alleged that the two were being detained without trial, hence their detention is illegal and is violative of human rights.

The plane was on its way from Kathmandu to New Delhi when it was hijacked and taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan in December, 1999.

UNI AKS-SC CS HT1427