PESHAWAR/DERA ISMAIL KHAN: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government announced on Tuesday that it would be registering cases against the leadership of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on charges of ‘spreading hate against state institutions’.
In a statement, KP government spokesperson Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif said the provincial government had decided to take action against the PDM leaders for making hateful statements against state institutions in the recent past. He said the provincial cabinet had allowed the registration of cases.
On the other hand, the KP government, through a notification, empowered a government official in Dera Ismail Khan district to receive complaints from senior PTI leader Ali Amin Khan Gandapur or any other interested party for registration of cases falling under certain sections of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), which otherwise require the permission from the provincial government to do so.
“In exercise of powers conferred by Section 196 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and in pursuance of cabinet decision on August 18, 2022, KP government is pleased to empower Mr Muneer Ahmed, Additional Assistant Commissioner, Dera Ismail Khan, to receive written complaints from Mr Ali Ameen Khan Gandapur or any other interested party and require local police to lodge FIRs under sections 108-A, 153-A and 505 of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with any other enabling provisions of law, and to sanction and pursue such cases within his respective jurisdiction with effect from August 18, 2022,” the notification stated.
Section 153-A deals with cases against those promoting enmity between different groups, while 108-A deals with abetment in Pakistan of offences outside it. Section 505 covers statement relating to public mischief.
Similarly, a Peshawar-based lawyer has approached Peshawar’s East Cantonment police station, seeking registration of FIRs against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Attaullah Tarar, Pervez Rashid, Ayaz Sadiq, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and others for inciting the public against the army, putting Pakistan’s security in jeopardy, making statements against the judiciary, hurting the country’s ideological base and promoting rebellion through their statements.
In his written application, lawyer Noor Sher stated that he recently watched and heard PDM leaders’ statements on social media and was shocked to see the bravado with which the people named in the application had used hateful and incendiary language against Pakistan Army. He said the statements were tantamount to rebellion and treason and only anti-Pakistan elements could make such statements.
A city police spokesperson confirmed receiving the application and said police were reviewing legal opinion on this matter. “Any decision on this application will be made following considering its legal aspects,” he added.
On the other hand, the Peshawar administration said no official had been tasked with receiving application against the PDM leaders like in Dera Ismail Khan.
Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2022
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