LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan on Tuesday suspended the operation of an order issued by the deputy commissioner for the detention of activist Ammar Ali Jan.

The Lahore DC had on Nov 26 issued the impugned order under section 3 of Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) for a 30-day detention of Mr Jan on a charge of creating a law and order situation. The order also claimed that he was in the habit of harassing the general public.

Mr Jan challenged his detention order through a writ petition, which the chief justice allowed for regular hearing seeking a report from the deputy commissioner.

Senior lawyers Hina Jillani and Salman Akram Raja represented the activist before the court. Scores of students and activists also attended the hearing.

On behalf of the government, Additional Advocate General Malik Abdul Aziz Awan objected to the maintainability of the petition and told the court that two FIRs were already registered against the petitioner. However, Ms Jillani argued that the petitioner had been subjected to political victimization by the government.

“What does the petitioner do?” CJ Khan asked the counsel.

“He is a professor,” replied Ms Jillani and added that the government had no evidence on the record to prove the allegations it relied upon to issue the detention order against the petitioner. She argued that the impugned order was illegal and a violation of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2020