PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench on Thursday directed the interior secretary, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa home secretary and provincial police officer to file replies in a case against the checking of Afghanistan-bound container trucks by local activists of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and allied parties.

Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Nisar HussainKhan gave the three respondents 15 days to file the replies.

In the petition, trader Haji Lal Mohammad requested the court to declare the action of the PTI and allied parties` activists illegal and unconstitutional.

He also requested the court to direct respondents to ensure the rule of law by restraining those illegally checking container trucks in the province.

The bench also put on notice the said respondents in an application filed by the petitioner seeking interim relief of restraining the activists of PTI from checking trucks till final disposal of the writ petition.

Next date for hearing the writ petition and the application would be fixed later on.

Lawyer of the petitionerShahnawaz Khan said under the law, a citizen had no right and authority to block a highway and check vehicle documents.

He said the activists of PTI and allied parties had been continuing with illegal act of checking the container trucks` documents for many days but the government and police had been acting as silent spectators.

`These activists have been checking documents/permits of trucks on the way to Afghanistan adversely affecting exports/business and thus, causing huge losses. There are fears that the act may trigger a law and order situation,` he said.

In the petition, the trader said he regularly paid tax while dealing in export of various items, including rice, besides perishable goods to Afghanistan and that he had regis-tered his firm, Lal Mohammad Traders, with the government. He said on Nov 24, the PTI leadership staged a sit-in against drone attacks.

The petitioner said PTI and allied parties in the province staged a rally and vowed to block Nato supplies to Afghanistan through different routes in the province.

He said the activists of PTI and allied parties had long been blocking Nato supplies by checking documents of loaded container trucks on the way to Afghanistan without any lawful authority.

The petitioner said the government was bound by the law to maintain the rule of law and check violation of the law but in the present case, it had failed to perform its duties and thus, multiplying the hardships of the people.