LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday sought a reply from the Punjab government on a writ petition challenging the imposition of section 144 across the province.

Justice Shahid Karim directed a provincial law officer to also apprise the court of the reasons for repeatedly imposing section 144 of CrPC, which prohibits public gatherings.

Earlier, Advocate Azhar Siddique argued on behalf of petitioner Malik Najiullah, pleading that the Punjab Home Department enforced section 144in the entire province to prevent a political party`s rallies.

He said the home department imposed the ban on public gatherings without applying a judicial mind and without taking into consideration the fact that political rallies cannot be curtailed through imposition of section 144.

He pointed out that the power/discretion of the government to impose the section 144 has already been challenged before the high court.

He contended that the exercise of the discretion is vague, unstructured, uncon-trolled and is an attempt to restrict the fundamental rights without any justification orcogentreasoning.

The petitioner said no independent reports or reasons have been given before imposing the restriction.

He stated that the enforcement of section 144 violates fundamental rights and cannot be used to stop political gatherings.

The petitioner requested the court to nullify the home department`s notification issued on June 21 regarding the imposition of section 144.-Staff Reporter