PHC seeks reply from federal govt in 14 days

Use of force by Punjab police

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday sought reply from the federal government through interior secretary within 14 days in a writ petition filed by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and two of his cabinet members against the use of force by the Punjab police against a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally heading to Islamabad to join a sit-in against the alleged corruption of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Ikramullah Khan also made the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa inspector general of police and provincial government through chief secretary as parties to the case.

The court asked advocate general to submit reply on behalf of the IGP and provincial government as to whether the Punjab police had entered into the territory of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa  to stop the rally.

At the very outset of the case, the court put a question to the petitioners lawyer Babar Awan whether the high court could hear the petition as the incident took place out of its territorial jurisdiction.

However, the petitioners’ lawyer informed the bench that the Punjab police had entered the territory of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at the Swabi Interchange of M-1 Motorway and other entry points to baton charge and teargas the rally which he said was peaceful.

He also cited news stories of the incident from regional and national newspapers which claimed the Punjab police had entered the territory of the province.

The court sought reply from the federal government within 14 days and fixed February 15 for next hearing of the case. The court was hearing a joint writ petition filed by the chief minister, Education Minister Atif Khan and Health Minister Shahram Khan.

They sought the high court’s ruling to declare the actions of the respondents, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, against the PTI rally contrary to the people’s free movement guaranteed in the Constitution.

The chief minister and his cabinet ministers also prayed the court to declare the use of force against the rally participants a violation of their fundamental rights. They sought orders declaring the police action arbitrary, of no legal effect and without jurisdiction.

The petitioners said they were exercising the fundamental right of freedom to join peaceful assembly in the federal capital. It said that the KP government cabinet had also announced participation in the said protest along with other peaceful citizens from the province.

The federal government, it said, without referring to any law issued a public statement on October 29  which declared petitioners would neither be permitted to move around freely in Islamabad nor the KP chief minister would be allowed to keep the security.

The petitioners claimed after addressing the rally at Swabi, the chief minister along with cabinet members, provincial legislators and people from other walks of life were on way to Islamabad, when first at Aurangabad and then at Burhan Interchange the Punjab police on the orders of the federal and Punjab governments resorted to indiscriminate baton-charge and teargas shelling without any lawful cause and authority.