PTI files contempt of court plea against govt in SC

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) on Tuesday requested the Supreme Court (SC) for initiating contempt proceeding against the government authorities for violating its order of May 25, 2022, prohibiting raids and arrest of workers and leaders of the party.

Khurram Nawaz MNA of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Malik Fakhar Ali, another member of PTI filed a contempt petition in the apex court under Article 204 of the constitution read with Sections 3 and 4 of the Contempt of Court Act 2003. They have made Yousaf Naseem Khokar, Secretary Ministry of Interior, Akbar Nasir Khan, Inspector General of Police Islamabad and Malik Jamil Zafar, Senior Superintendent of Islamabad Police (operation) as respondents.

The petitioners prayed the apex court to accept their contempt petition against its order passed on May 25, 2022 and contempt proceeding may be initiated against the respondents and contemnors may kindly be punished. They submitted that PTI gave call to its supporters & workers for long march on 25th of May, 2022 against the regime change operation taken place on 9th of April, 22 because of international conspiracy unearthed due to cipher sent by ambassador of Pakistan for United States of America.

The petitioners recalled that the apex court passed an order on May 25, 2022 in the petition filed by Islamabad High Court Bar Association holding that Muhammad Shoaib Shaheen, learned ASC for the petitioner had informed that a large number of lawyers have been arrested without due process of law and without any charge. According to him, this is an attempt to prevent and obstruct participation of such lawyers in the protest rally.

They submitted that the learned Attorney General (AG) had assured the court that houses, offices, and other private/residential places shall not be raided in an attempt to arrest any political worker/member sympathiser of PTI etc. besides all workers/members and/or sympathisers and the leadership of any political party, including PTI, shall not be arrested till further orders unless any offence of a heinous nature is alleged to have been committed by him.

They further submitted that the court had ordered all the political leaders/political workers or supporters/sympathisers or members of any political party, who have been arrested in the last 48 hours, unless commission of any heinous offence has been alleged in any FIR lodged so far, shall be released forthwith.

The petitioners submitted that PTI, has decided to carry out long march (Haqeeqi Azadi March) which started from Friday, 28th of October, 2022 from Liberty Chowk, Lahore which shall conclude in Islamabad on 4th or 5th of November where it shall hold Jalsa/sit-in at Srinagar Highway (between H-9 and G-9 area) near Weekly Bazar, Islamabad as per decision of the this court in the titled Constitutional Petition.

They submitted that Imran Khan will lead the Haqeeqi Azadi March/sit-in and the area of jurisdiction is under administrative control of respondents. The petitioners submitted that the respondents have installed and placed thousands of containers at different places of Islamabad and created obstacles for free movement of citizens of Pakistan, blocked many areas and avenues, taking coercive measures against the party members/workers/common citizens of Pakistan, extending threat openly through all sources of media, airing paid advertisements on media on one hand and have prepared a list of party workers/members/activist police station wise and now have started arresting them and raiding their houses without any offence, the act of the respondents are illegal, unlawful, without lawful authority, unwarranted, null & void ab-initio.

They maintained that on October 30, the respondent police and contingents of Frontier Constabulary, working under the administrative control of the respondents, have raided the houses of the petitioners without any offence and warrant but fortunately they were not present at their house at the time of raid.

“This raid is blatant example of police atrocities, misuse of authority and abuse of process of law”, the petitioners contended, adding that the respondents have committed contempt of the order of this court by not complying with the direction & commitment part of the orders dated May 25, 2022 and 26.05.2022.

They further submitted that the respondents have frustrated and abused the process of law by ignoring disobeying the direction/commitment by not fulfilling the direction for the assuring and protecting the fundamental rights of the individual as protected and safeguarded under fundamental rights of chapter of the Constitution.

The petitioners further contended that Secretary Ministry of Interior has disobeyed the order of this court willfully and intentionally just in an attempt to frustrate the process of the law, harm the petitioners and party workers/members of PTI. “If contempt proceedings are not initiated against the respondents and is not punished as such, it will get encouraged and will keep on violating order of this court”, the petitioners submitted.