PESHAWAR: As Peshawar High Court chief justice stated on Tuesday that the court would continue to deliver judgments in accordance with the law and Constitution, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary and inspector general of police (IGP) assured the court that all of its orders would be fully implemented.

A bench consisting of PHC Chief Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim disposed of a petition filed against issuance of detention order of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Irfan Saleem by Peshawar deputy commissioner, observing that assurance was given by the two officers that in future orders of the court would be followed, therefore, there was no need to further proceed with the matter.

The bench directed the chief secretary to order all the commissioners and deputy commissioners to ensure implementation of court orders. The court also asked him to consult the advocate general on legal matters as he was having a competent team of law officers.

The court had summoned the two officers on October 3 when despite issuance of an order of not arresting Irfan Saleem till further orders, he was arrested as the deputy commissioner had issued his detention order under section 3 of Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance on September 28.

Petition disposed of; officers were summoned after PTI leader’s arrest despite court’s restraining order

The court had set free Irfan Saleem the same day and ordered that it would exonerate the concerned officers including DC from proceedings under the contempt of court laws if chief secretary and IGP gave undertaking that no court orders would be violated in future.

When the bench took up for hearing the petition on Tuesday, KP Advocate General Aamir Javed appeared along with Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, IGP Akhter Hayat Khan, Peshawar Capital City Police Officer Syed Ashfaq Anwar, SSP (operation) Kashif Abbassi and other officers.

Advocate Ali Zaman appeared for petitioner Rashid Saleem, the brother of Irfan Saleem.

During the course of hearing, the PHC chief justice observed that nobody should be under the impression that court had been supporting a particular political party or a political figure as it had only been functioning under Constitution and law.

“We won’t allow sabotaging the court orders and won’t tolerate non-implementation of its judgments,” he observed. The bench maintained that the judgments delivered by different courts, from magistrate up to high court, were not personal opinions of any individual rather those were delivered under Constitution and law.

Addressing the chief secretary and IGP, the PHC chief justice observed that they knew that they were functioning on responsible posts and were facing multiple issues now-a-days, but at the same time they had to ensure implementation of court orders.

He pointed out that earlier in another case, former MPA Rangez Ahmad was arrested despite getting interim bail from court. The bench observed that it appeared that the DC was issuing orders under MPO on behest of someone else.

The chief secretary stated that they were aware of the prestige of court. He assured that in future court orders would be fully implemented. He stated that if they were having reservations over any of the order of the court they had the right to file a review petition or an appeal against the said orders.

IGP Akhter Hayat also assured that they were bound by the orders of court and there were no two opinions about that.

PHC Chief Justice Ibrahim Khan stated that he had been serving as judicial officer for the last 33 years and neither he nor any of his family members had ever indulged in politics. He observed that they had taken oath under Constitution to uphold rule of law and fundamental rights of individuals.

Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim observed that orders issued by any court, whether that of a magistrate or high court, were equally important and should be implemented. He observed that they were not supporting any political party and had been performing their duty as the country could only survive by upholding Constitution and law.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2023