High court dismisses plea for ban on MQM

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday dismissed the petition seeking a ban on the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and disqualification of its legislators following party founder Altaf Hussain’s anti-state speech on August 22, 2016.

MQM’s counsel Farogh Naseem informed the SHC bench that the high court had on January 1 dismissed the petitioner’s identical plea calling for disqualifying MQM legislators on similar grounds.

The deputy attorney general and the provincial law officer did not controvert the factual position stated by the counsel. The division bench headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi observed that the court had already passed an order in a similar matter and dismissed the petition along with the listed applications.

Maulvi Iqbal Haider had said in his petition that MQM MNAs and MPAs had listened to the anti-state speech at a hunger strike camp outside the Karachi Press Club in which Altaf had made highly objectionable remarks against the solidarity, integrity and security of the country.

Haider said MQM legislators had neither agitated nor raised any slogans against Altaf, but for the sake of saving their own skins, they later distanced themselves from the party founder.

He said the federation of Pakistan was duty-bound to issue a notification for banning the MQM in terms of articles 5 and 17(2) of the Constitution because its legislators secured votes on the election symbol (kite) in Altaf’s name.

He also said that after the vitriolic speech, none of the MQM’s parliamentarians had the right to hold onto their office and all of them should be prosecuted in terms of Section 11-F of the Anti-Terrorism Act, read with Article 6 of the Constitution.

The petitioner said it was a requirement of the law in terms of the Supreme Court judgment in the Abdul Wali Khan case that the MQM and its elected members of the parliament be disqualified.

He said members of both the MQM factions (London and Pakistan) were involved in serious crimes with respect to the country’s solidarity, sovereignty, integrity and security. Opposing the petition, MQM-Pakistan (MQM-P) legislators told the court that the party had denounced Altaf’s anti-state speech and completely distanced itself from the party founder.

MQM-P chief Farooq Sattar and other legislators said that after Altaf delivered the speech, the party had distanced itself from him and its lawmakers presented resolutions in the national and provincial assemblies calling for taking action against the party founder.