KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday directed the home secretary, director general of Rangers, inspector general of police and others to submit their replies on a constitutional petition seeking the whereabouts of a school principal allegedly picked up by personnel of the law enforcement agencies.

A division bench headed by Justice Ahmed Ali M. Sheikh also issued notices to the federal and provincial law officers and put off the hearing to a date to be announced later by the court office.

Umair Anwer, represented by Advocate Syed Nadeem ul Haq, submitte d in his petition that LEA personnel, including paramilitary troops and police, picked up his father,Muhammad Essa Anwer, principal of the Aasanamal T. Ojha Government Boys Primary School in Lyari, on Aug 29 at the school.

He said he approached the area police and higher officers of the paramilitary troops to get information about his missing father, but the law-enforcers feigned ignorance about his father`s arrest or detention.

The petitioner said his father was being kept in illegal detention as he was not involved in any criminal case or illegal activity.

Besides, the same bench that included Justice Syed Muhammad Farooq Shah directed the respondent authorities to file their comments on a petition of a woman who sought the whereabouts and recovery of her two sons, one of them a prayer leader, allegedly picked up by Rangers personnel.

Ms Sirbala submitted in the petition thather young sons Shafiullah and Inayatullah were picked up by the personnel at a mosque in New Saeedabad on Aug 15.

She said Inayatullah was a prayer leader at the mosque while his elder brother was a supervisor in a garment factory.

The woman stated that she reported the matter to the area police, but they refused to give any information about her sons.

She said her sons were detained illegally as they were not involved in any criminal activity.

The petitioner mother asked the court to direct the respondent officials to produce her sons in court.

USC employees` case A division bench comprising Justices Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Aziz-ur-Rehmanrestrained the federal authorities from taking any unlawful action against employees of the Utility Stores Corporation.

The bench gave the order while hearing a petition filed by 19 contractual employees of the USC working as salesmen and assistant salesmen.

Iftikhar Ahmed and others petitioned the SHC after the report regarding the sacking of over 6,000 USC employees. They impleaded the secretary for the ministry of industries and production, the general manager and board of directors of USC and others as respondents.

The benchalso directedtherespondentto furnish their comments on the petition, and put off the hearing to Sept 22.

They submitted in the petition that they had been working as salesmen and assistant salesmen with the USC for the past six years on a contract basis but their services had not been regularised.

The petitioners submitted thattheyhadlearntthrough the media that the government had decided to sack 6,000 employees.

They requested the court to order regularisation of their services and restrain the government from terminating their services.