PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday summoned the deputy commissioner of Haripur district to appear before it to respond to the petition of former provincial minister and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Yousaf Ayub Khan against his detention under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance.

A bench consisting of Justice Shakeel Ahmad and Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel directed the deputy commissioner to appear before it in the case today (Wednesday).

The petitioner requested the court to declare that Haripur’s DC order for detaining him for a period of 30 days under Section 3 of the MPO Ordinance was illegal.

He also prayed the court to restrain the respondents, including the DC and local police, from acting against the law and registering “bogus and baseless” FIRs against him on political grounds.

Yousaf says orders to keep him in custody under MPO illegal

A panel of lawyers, including Javed Khan Tanoli, Haq Nawaz and Sheikh Abid Ali, represented the petitioner, whereas additional advocate general Danyal Asad Chamkani appeared for the government.

Lawyers for the petitioner said their client was leading the election campaign of his two brothers, including Akbar Ayub Khan and Arshad Ayub Khan, in their respective constituencies of Haripur district.

They said for the last few days, the local administration and law-enforcement agencies had been bent on arresting the petitioner in cases not known to him.

Advocate Javed Khan said because of the affiliation of the petitioner and his brothers with the PTI, they had been subjected to continuous harassment by the government and unwarranted raids were conducted on their residences.

He said the brothers of the petitioner had filed a petition before the Peshawar High Court’s Abbottabad Circuit Bench for knowing if any case was pending against them and to request the court to order authorities not to act against them until the final disposal of that petition.

The lawyer said a high court bench had declaredon Jan 30that action shouldn’t be taken against them until further orders.

He added that the DC issued a illegal order claiming that the petitioner was creating a law and order situation threatening peace in the area, but he failed to provide any evidence in that regard.

AAG Danyal Chamkani said the DC had issued the order on the recommendations of Haripur’s district police officer as the petitioner was threatening peace in the district ahead ofpolls.

Meanwhile, a single-member bench adjourned until Feb 13 the hearing into a habeas corpus petition for the recovery of village council chairman Nabiullah, who has been missing since Jan 19.

Advocates Shah Faisal Uthmankhel and Khurram Zeeshan appeared for the petitioner before Chief Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan and said the detainee belonged to the PTI and was taken into custody when he had gone to Kohat’s district court to get relief in cases registered against him.

They said in accordance with an earlier order of the court, two of the witnesses who had seen local police taking the detainee into custody, had recorded their statement with the additional registrar (judicial) of this court.

During the previous hearing, Kohat DPO Mohammad Farhan said the ‘missing’ person was neither in the custody of police nor he was picked up by the local police.

He said if he was given any information about the involvement of a police official in the matter, he would take action against him.

The chief justice warned him that if the detainee was traced in the custody of any official, the court would decide whether to start contempt proceedings or order registration of an FIR in the matter.

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Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2024