Petitions for stay of Turkish schools’ staff dismissed

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday dismissed writ petitions filed against deportation of staff of the Pak-Turk International Schools and Colleges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Muhammad Ayub Khan dismissed the two writ petitions on non-prosecution after both the lawyers and petitioners did not appear in the cases.

However, deputy attorney generals Kifayatullah and Arshad Hussain were present in the court and requested to dismiss the cases as it was the prerogative of the federal government to extend or cancel the visas to foreign nationals.

They further stated that their visas had expired in September.Earlier, the high court had twice extended the stay order, restraining the federal government from deporting the Turkish nationals from Pakistan.

However, the lawyers had sought time to submit rejoinder to the Interior Ministry’s reply but did not submit and remained absent in the case in Wednesday’s hearing.Later, one of the lawyers said that they did not receive notice from the court that the cases would be heard on Wednesday.

The Interior Ministry submitted a reply to the Peshawar High Court and said it was the prerogative of the federal government to extend or cancel visas of the foreign nationals, requesting the court to dismiss writ petitions that had sought stay of the Turkish teachers and other staff of Pak-Turk International Schools and Colleges.

In the reply, the Interior Ministry stated almost 90 percent visas of their expatriates had expired in September, but they stayed in Pakistan without further visa extension. However, it said that the ministry issued them regret letter after the due process was followed and an exit permit was issued accordingly.