PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday put off hearing of around 178 habeas corpus petitions challenging `enforced disappearance` of scores of people without out any progress.

The relatives of the `missing persons` including women and elders came from different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tribal areas, but after waiting for the entire day theyhad to return disappointed as the cases could not be heard.

The court fixed April 22 for next hearing of these cases.

These petitions were fixed before a two-member bench comprising PHC Chief Justice Mian Fasihul Mulk and Justice Mussarat Hillai, but throughout the day the chief justice was heading a full bench hearing issues related to the jurisdiction of the court in Fata due to which the two-member bench could not assemble.Heading the full bench, PHC chief justice observed that it would not be possible for the court to hear those cases on Wednesday and directed the court officials to convey to the petitioners that the cases would be heard on April 22.

A day earlier another around 300 habeas corpus petitions were fixed but those could also not be heard due to the death of a judge of the high court, Justice Shahjehan Khan AKhundzada.

Several of the relatives of missingpersons were offering depressing stories to journalists, saying the high court was their last hope as their near and dear ones had been missing for the last many years.

`My brother Javed was around 16 and was studying in grade 8 at a school in Karachi,` said Bukhti Said, a resident of Chagerzai village in Buner district.

He said that Javed was taken away by the local police when he was coming to Buner in a bus more than a year ago.