The Peshawar High Court has heard and decided several important cases in 2013. While the cases concerning “enforced disappearances” remained priority for the court, it also heard cases related to human rights and constitutional matters.

With just two days remaining in the year to end, around 500 habeas corpus petitions of “missing persons” have been pending before the high court. Several missing persons were released by their captors during the year whereas several others were shifted to internment centres due to the high court pressure. A few days ago the high court was informed that during last couple of months around 700 detainees were shifted to internment centres set up in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tribal areas.

One of the most important judgments delivered by the high court, which drew international attention, was concerning the US drone strikes in Pakistan. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Ms Mussarat Hilali had declared these drone strikes as a war crime.

The bench had allowed four writ petitions on May 9 and issued directives to the government of Pakistan and security forces to ensure stoppage of such strikes in future, including taking up the issue before the UN Security Council and the General Assembly.

The four petitions were filed by several leaders of Defence of Pakistan Council (DPC), Foundation for Fundamental Rights (FFR), a tribal notable Malik Noor Khan and advocate FM Sabir. The bench in its detailed 22-page judgment had directed that the federal government and its security forces should ensure that in future such drone strikes were not conducted within the territory of Pakistan.

Another important case was related to the disqualification of former president General (retired) Pervez Musharraf. A four-member bench headed by the chief justice placed lifetime ban on Pervez Musharraf from becoming member of parliament and provincial assembly and termed him an opportunist who has no respect for law and the Constitution.

The bench on April 30 ruled that Pervez Musharraf had twice trampled the Constitution and after imposing emergency on Nov 3, 2007, he placed the Chief Justice of Pakistan and around 50 judges under house arrest along with their family members.

The bench had dismissed five petitions filed by Pervez Musharraf challenging an order of the election appellate tribunal through which he was disqualified from contesting National Assembly elections from NA-32 Chitral from where his nomination papers were earlier accepted by the returning officer concerned.

The high court also decided another important case and on Dec 17 declared the levy of fuel adjustment charge/fuel price adjustment by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) in electricity bills of consumers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as unconstitutional and illegal. A bench of the court allowed around 80 writ petitions filed by industrial units and other entities challenging the said levy. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had also supported the stance of the petitioners.

The petitioners had pointed out that hydel power was generated in the province at rate of Rs1.30 per unit and the consumers had been paying Rs14.75 per unit for the same electricity. The petitioners stated that once tariff was determined by Nepra it was unjustified to allow it to change it each month on the pretext of fuel adjustment surcharge.

The Peshawar Electric Supply Company intends to challenge the said judgment before the Supreme Court.

During the year the chief justice had taken suo motu notices of important issues including the barring of women from casting votes during by-elections on Aug 22; targeted killings on sectarian ground; mysterious killing of a woman inside Lady Reading Hospital; purchase of sub-standard hepatitis curing vaccines by the health department; encroachments of graveyards by land mafia; delay in construction of Northern Bypass Road passing through outskirts of Peshawar; poaching of markhor in Chitral; supply of spurious drugs to markets, etc.

However, the Supreme Court restricted the exercise of suo motu powers by the high court chief justices and directed: “A high court would exercise its extraordinary discretionary constitutional jurisdiction where it is satisfied that subject to the constitution no other adequate remedy is provided by law.”

The order was issued by a bench of the apex court on Sept 17 in a civil petition for leave to appeal against the judgment of the PHC by a contesting candidate in by-elections, Dr Imran Khattak. The petitioner had challenged the high court order of Aug 26 wherein it had ordered re-polling in all those female polling stations where no or negligible polling took place during by-elections in two National Assembly constituencies of NA-5 Nowshera I and NA-27 Lakki Marwat.

In an important human rights issue the high court had on Oct 9 directed the federal government to make suitable amendments in the law for regulating the sale and purchase of acids as the incidents of throwing acid on women were increasing.

The court has also taken notice of the kidnapping of Islamia College University Peshawar’s vice-chancellor, Ajmal Khan, who was kidnapped by the militants over three years ago. That case has still been pending.

The bench has now issued show cause notices to the federal and provincial governments asking them to explain what steps they had so far taken for his recovery.