PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday adjourned hearing into the petition of Awami National Party provincial president Aimal Wali Khan for the formation of a high-powered fact-finding committee on the “militants’ resettlement” in the country.

A bench consisting of Justice Abdul Shakoor and Justice Wiqar Ahmad gave the petitioner’s lawyer, Babar Khan Yousafzai, two weeks’ time to produce the copies of superior court judgements to show that it has the jurisdiction to order the formation of the fact-finding panel.

The petitioner requested the court to grant the committee time to complete the face-finding exercise insisting, “Most facts have already been admitted by the respondents.”

He also said the fact-finding report should be made public.

Asks petitioner to prove court can order formation of fact-finding panel

The ANP leader requested the court to ask respondents, including federal and provincial governments, to stop “resettling” militants in the country.

The respondents in the petition are the country’s president, former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government through its chief secretary, former chief minister Mahmood Khan, former special assistant to the chief minister Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, former director-general of the Inter-Services Intelligence retired Lt Gen Faiz Hameed and federal government through the interior minister.

Lawyer Yousafzai contended that during the PTI rule, the government and militants made a secret deal leading to the “re-settlement” of the former in parts of the province that caused the acts of terrorism to increase in the country.

He said statements were constantly issued by the office of the then prime minister, Imran Khan, and Barrister Saif regarding the resettlement of trained militants from Afghanistan in Pakistan.

The bench asked him about the maintainability of the petition, wondering how it could order an inquiry in such matters.

It observed that it was the responsibility of the government to order an inquiry.

The lawyer, however, said that the petitioner’s party was not part of the government.

On the query of the bench, he said that his client was the provincial chief of the ANP.

The court later asked him to refer to any law to show that superior courts could order the formation of the fact-finding or inquiry committees.

The counsel requested it to give him two weeks’ time to produce the “case law” on the matter.

Meanwhile, ANP provincial chief Aimal Wali told reporters on the premises of the high court that he had approached the high court as a representative of the Pakhtun nation against the “resettlement” of terrorists in the country.

He said that former prime minister and PTI chief Imran Khan, former ISI chief retired Lt Gen Faiz Hameed and some other high-ups had pushed the land of Pakhtuns into terrorism yet again as the incidents of terrorism had been taking place on a daily basis causing the loss of precious lives.

Mr Wali alleged that currently, militants roamed freely in different areas of the province, including Swat and Buner.

He voiced concern about the detention of PTI activists in large numbers and said that leaders of Imran Khan’s party secured their release from jail after they addressed news conferences and tendered apologies over the May 9 and 10 violent protests, why the same “facility” wasn’t provided to the party’s workers.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2023