PHC extends stay, allows two NGOs to continue working

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday extended a stay order allowing two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to continue implementing projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which had been stopped by the provincial government for security concerns.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan and Justice Ghazanfar Khan extended the stay order and directed the provincial Home and Tribal Affairs Department to submit written reply in the petitions before the next hearing.

The court allowed PAIMAN Alumni Trust and Community Appraisal and Motivation Programme (CAMP) to continue projects till the next order of the court. Both the NGOs had challenged the Home and Tribal Affairs Department notifications through their lawyer Aminur Rehman Yousafzai.

During arguments, the lawyer submitted that the home department through notifications informed all the deputy commissioners of the province that the activities of PAIMAN Alumni Trust and CAMP had been banned in KP.

The lawyer submitted that the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in its comments stated that the government had provided a list of international NGOs for banning their activities due to security reasons. He submitted that both the NGOs were working in KP and Fata and were not international NGOs.

About the case of PAIMAN, the lawyer submitted that the organisation was launched by citizens of Pakistan in 2004. The objectives were to consolidate efforts for building human capabilities through programmes and projects in the social sector.

The projects and programme centered around protecting fundamental human rights, empowering women politically, economically and socially, promoting formal and non-formal education and empowering youth women and communities to build social cohesion, interfaith harmony through addressing issues of extremism.

In order to comply with the new procedural requirement, he submitted that the petitioner had earlier got No-Objection Certificates for 42 times to do projects in the period between 2010 and 2015 for both the Fata and KP province.

The lawyer submitted about 83 ongoing projects of the trust were at the threshold of completion, which have been put to a halt by the Home Department through the impugned notification. The counsel argued that the department had no lawful authority to ban activities of the trust without mentioning reasons. It said the department had not communicated the action to the petitioner's trust through any means.

He argued the trust, employees of 15 offices, and welfare of 250 families were being adversely affected by the decision. The lawyer said the petitioner made repeated requests to the respondents to simply explain the reasons for the ban but no reply was received.

About the case of CAMP, the lawyer submitted that the organisation had been working since 2002 with some of the most underprivileged communities in Pakistan, responding to emergencies, improving access to quality health and education, creating livelihood opportunities and promoting human rights, peace and security in order to achieve the goal of peaceful, prosperous and progressive Pakistan.