PESHAWAR: A total of 22 activists of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) from Shangla and Upper Chitral districts have moved Peshawar High Court against their detention under Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance on directives of the respective deputy commissioners.

Two separate petitions were filed by the detained PTI workers including 16 from Shangla district and six from Upper Chitral. They have requested the court to declare as illegal and unconstitutional the impugned orders issued by the two deputy commissioners.

They have also sought interim relief, praying the court to suspend the impugned orders and set them free on bail till final disposal of the petitions.

Shangla deputy commissioner had issued almost identical orders on July 19 under section 3 of Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance for the detention of the 16 petitioners including Pir Aman and others for a period of 30 days.

Claim their arrest under MPO based on political victimisation

Similarly, the Upper Chitral deputy commissioner issued the orders on July16 under section 3 of MPO for detaining the six petitioners including Mohammad Haroon and others from the said district.

In each of the impugned orders, the DC claimed that that the respective petitioner was involved in activities, which were prejudicial to public safety and maintenance of public order in the area, resulting in law and order situation in the district.

He claimed that having considered the material placed before him, he was of the opinion that it was necessary to prevent the said person from acting in a manner prejudicial to public safety and maintenance of public order.

The petitions were filed through panel of lawyers including Alam Khan Adenzai, Shah Faisal Uthmankhel, Rehmat Ali Shah, Qaiser Ali Shah and Humaira Gul.

The respondents in the petition are the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government through its home secretary, district police officers of Shangla and Upper Chitral, and deputy commissioners of the two districts.

The petitioners contended that they were law abiding citizens and were never involved in any crime. They contended that the impugned orders were illegal, unlawful and against the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan, hence untenable and liable to be set aside.

They stated that there was no evidence available with the respondents that could show their involvement in any activity prejudicial to public safety and maintenance of public order, hence the detention orders were against the basic purpose and scheme of the provisions of MPO Ordinance.

Furthermore, they stated that they were not members of any banned outfit, hence the impugned orders were unwarranted under the law.

They contended that they had been charged with mala fide intentions and just for political victimization.

They stated that in similar nature of cases the court had earlier granted interim relief to the detainees.

It is pertinent to mention that after the May 9 and 10 protests, the deputy commissioners across the province have invoked section 3 of the MPO Ordinance against hundreds of activists and leaders of PTI.

From time-to-time, different benches of the high court including the one at the principal seat in Peshawar, Mingora and Abbottabad had provided relief to the PTI members detained under the MPO.

In one of the judgments delivered by a two-member bench in Mingora on June 27, the court accepted three petitions and set aside detention orders issued by the Dir Lower DC under section 3 of the MPO.

While setting free several of the detained persons, the bench ruled that the issuance of the impugned orders under section 3-MPO were found to be not fulfilling the jurisdictional requirements for issuance of orders under the said provision of law.

It ruled that the court found that right of liberty of the petitioners had been abridged, which was guaranteed under Article 9 of the Constitution of Pakistan, therefore interference of the court was required in the matter for ensuring that such persons enjoy exercise of their fundamental rights.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2023