PHC moved against curbs on lawyers’ entry to Cantt

PESHAWAR: A petition was filed in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) to challenge the ban on lawyers entering the cantonment without vehicle stickers.

The petition requested the court to declare the restrictions null and void.The writ petition was filed by Advocate Muhammad Rafiq through Advocate Ameen-ur-Rehman Yousafzai. The petition named the Ministry of Defence, the Secretary of Defence, the chief secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Cantonment Executive Officer Peshawar, and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council as respondents.

According to the petitioner’s counsel, the Peshawar Cantonment Board administration had imposed an unlawful and unconstitutional restriction on lawyers entering the cantonment limits without a cantonment sticker. He argued that multiple courts operated within Peshawar Cantt, and lawyers regularly appeared to pursue legal cases. He contended that such restrictions would adversely affect the delivery of justice.

The petition stated that thousands of lawyers practiced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with more than 6,000 registered in the Peshawar High Court alone, who routinely visited the cantonment area. The petitioner maintained that such measures were illegal and violated the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.

Advocate Ameen-ur-Rehman asserted that lawyers had always upheld the law and the supremacy of the Constitution and were not involved in any unlawful activities. The ban imposed by the cantonment administration, he argued, contradicted legal provisions, as freedom of movement was a fundamental constitutional right.The petition called for the immediate annulment of the restriction and requested the court to suspend the order until a final decision was made on the matter.