PHC moved against barricading of roads in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) was moved on Thursday against the barricading and closure of several roads to the general public in the Cantonment and other areas of the city.

A senior Peshawar lawyer, Muhammad Khurshid Khan, filed a writ petition in the PHC, seeking order of the court for removing barricades and walls on roads in Peshawar Cantonment and other areas as it caused hindrance in smooth flow of traffic in the provincial capital and difficulties for the public to reach various government departments.

The writ petition stated that the Frontier Corps despite having huge space in the Balahisar Fort occupied the Nazar Bagh and also erected barricades on the adjacent busy road in front of the fort, creating traffic problems in the city.

“From a little distance from Balahisar Fort, a wall was erected on a road towards Civil Secretariat and Police Lines from the Peshawar Central Prison,” he said.

The petitioner pointed out that barricades were also put up on the nearby road outside the MPAs Hostel and Governor’s House and thus half of the road was closed by the barricades. The lawyer pointed out that another important road was also closed by erecting a wall close to the Governor’s House, Public Service Commission and Chief Minister’s House where there is tight security.

He said due to the barricades and walls on roads in the name of so-called security, the general public is facing hardships in reaching certain key government departments and also the city faces traffic mess. He noted that citizens were being humiliated in the name of snap checking.

The petitioner said that link roads toward Mall Road from Qayyum Stadium Road are also being closed by walls. He pointed out that a neighbouring country’s consulate had occupied a complete road at Park Avenue and protests by the residents against it were ignored. It was submitted that the University Town Police Station also occupied and closed the service road outside the police station.

The petitioner informed that almost all links roads leading to Defence Colony were closed by walls.The senior lawyer, who also remained deputy attorney general, stated that the Lakki-Dera Ismail Khan road was opened on the court orders as a result of a writ petition and requested the court to also issue orders to respondents to remove all the barricades and walls from the roads in Peshawar.

He also cited the Supreme Court verdict in which the apex court had set aside the Sindh High Court decision that had upheld the government move to ban heavy vehicles in Karachi city.He argued that free movement was the fundamental right of the citizens and putting up barricades on roads and erecting walls was illegal and against the law.