ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Monday disposed of a plea against the PTI’s planned long march and protest in the federal capital on Sept 27, directing the chief ministers of all provinces to ensure that no government resources or official machinery were used in this regard.
Inits short order on the plea against the likely disruptions to routine life due to the PTPs planned protest, an IHC bench declared that no party or political leader had the ‘lawful right to occupy public roads, highways, interchanges, toll plazas and buildings in Islamabad that would obstruct in any manner access to educational institutions and medical facilities’.
Provincial governments must also ensure that government resources were not used for any march, procession or rally, the Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar-led bench noted.
Chief ministers must ensure that public funds or government officials were not used for any protest, and official vehicles, machinery or other government equipment must not be used to facilitate any march, procession or rally, ordered the larger bench, whichalso included Justice Muhammad Azam Khan and Justice Muhammad Asif.
In addition, it ruled, no public servant should be compelled to participate in any march, procession or rally, declaring that any person, public office holder who undertook any activity against these instructions should be deemed to have violated the Constitution.
Videos of previous protests screened Referring to the PTI’s claim about peaceful protest, Islamabad Advocate General Naveed Hayat Malik informed the bench that a miscellaneous application had been filed seeking permission to screen videos of the PTI’s protests in 2022 and 2024.
Reluctantly, CJ Dogar allowed the screening but remarked that the IHC did not wish to establish a precedent of routinely playing videos during court proceedings.
The AG then played the videos, and argued that such demonstrations could not be described as peaceful.
The law officer said there was a legal framework governing public meetings and protests in the federal capital and it was district magistrate’s power to grant or reject the request for permission to hold peaceful demonstrations, and no protest could beheld without such approval. Besides, the government had the authority to declare an area ‘Red Zone’ and impose restrictions, where required, to maintain law and order.
He said there was no evidence to suggest that the proposed rally would be peaceful this time. He said the Islamabad administration did not have the ‘physical capacity to stop a massive crowd if the PTI brought its full resources to Islamabad’, highlighting the need for preventive measures before the situation ‘gets out of control’.
Undertaking The court also called KP IG Zulfiqar Hameed to the rostrum and directed him to read out an affidavit submitted by him. After he read out the document, CJ Dogar asked the KP police chief, ‘If an illegal and unconstitutional act takes place, will you not stop it?’ When the IG claimed the affidavit had been filed as per court’s earlier directive, the CJ said, ‘You should have also stated in the affidavit that you would prevent illegal and unconstitutional actions.
The court then recorded the KP IG’s sworn statement that illegal and unconstitutional activities would be prevented and that protesters would be dispersed if theyengaged in unlawful conduct.
The bench then reserved its verdict and later disposed ofthe plea.
The KP advocate general, however, distanced himself from the provincial police chief’s undertaking. In response to a question, he told Dawn before the verdict that he would ‘not own’ this undertaking and that the KP government was working on the ‘restructuring of bureaucracy, free from the Centre’s influence’.
Blocking of passports In a separate case registered against the attacks on state institutions, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad ordered the blocking of passports of KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser, ex-minister Omar Ayub and 23 other PTI leaders.
ATC Judge Abual Hasnat Muhammad Zulgarnain, who passed the order, noted the accusedfaced serious charges butfailed to appear. Some of those who had obtained interim bail also failed to join the investigation, the court observed.
Those named in the order are KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Asad Qaiser, Sheram Tarakai, Shah Ahad, Sher AliArbab, Muhammad Iqbal Afridi, Dr Amjad Ali, Junaid Akbar, Shahid Khattak, Zubair Wazir, Omar Ayub, Arshad Umarzai, Zar Alam, Mian Umar, Akhtar Khan, Humayun Khan, Riaz Khan, Abdul Kabir Khan, Tufail Anjum, Asif Mehsud, Ajab Gul, Muhammad Usman, Babar Saleem Swati, Irfan Saleem, Advocate Ali Zaman and Malik Shahab.
‘Always peaceful’ Meanwhile, interim PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas announced that the party would proceed with its Sept 27 march, urging courts to refrain from interfering in political matters.
Speaking to the media, the PTI chairman said political issues should be resolved politically and the PTI had always assured authorities that its activities would be peaceful.
He criticised the treatment being meted out to Imran Khan in jail. Claiming that the ‘Insaf March’ would remain peaceful, he appealed to the masses to join their struggle, and prayed that no bullets would be fired at the marchers.
Ikram Junaidi also contributed to this report