PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday directed law-enforcement agencies, including police, not to take any “illegal” step against family members of former provincial minister and PTI leader Kamran Bangash.

A bench consisting of Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah disposed of a petition filed by Kamran Bangash’s brother Afnan Bangash, who accused the police of conducting illegal raids on their house and harassing him and his family members.

It directed law-enforcement agencies, including police, to deal with the petitioner and his family members in accordance with the law.

Mr Kamran went into hiding after the May 9-10 violent protests as the police registered several cases against him and other PTI leaders.

Declares Bangash’s relatives should be dealt with as per the law

Advocate Ali Zaman appeared for the petitioner and said the police had conducted several raids on his residence and he had been victimised on political grounds.

He added that the petitioner was a law-abiding citizen and was not charged in any offence.

The lawyer said the police had also been harassing some tenants of the petitioner.

He said a petition had already been filed in the high court seeking details about the cases registered against Mr Kamran so that he could approach the relevant courts for getting relief.

Additional advocate general Danyal Khan Chamkani contended that points raised by the petitioner were questions of facts which could not be challenged in the constitutional jurisdiction of this court.

He added that the petitioner had placed nothing on record in support of his contention to prove his allegations.

Also, the bench directed a lawyer to submit powers of attorney on behalf of seven former PTI lawmakers about whom he had sought its orders for law-enforcement agencies to provide details of the cases lodged against them and orders issued for their detention.

It observed that in the absence of any power of attorney on the name of the petitioner, the court could not issue directives to law-enforcement agencies to provide the required details.

All those assembly members have gone into hiding to prevent their arrests. They include former MNAs Arbab Aamir Ayub and Arbab Sher Ali Khan, former provincial ministers Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra and Kamran Khan Bangash, former deputy speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Mahmood Jan Khan and former MPAs Asif Khan and Haji Fazal Ilahi.

Former president of the Peshawar Bar Association Ali Zaman filed the petition on their behalf and requested the court to direct the government and law-enforcement agencies to desist from unlawful raids on the homes and offices of their immediate and extended family members in connection with the May 9-10 violent protests insisting such actions were unwarranted.

Advocate Ali Gohar Durrani appeared along with the petitioner and said it was the constitutional right of the petitioner to seek information about the cases pending against those former lawmakers.

AAG Danyal Chamkani said the petitioner was not having powers of attorney of those for whom he had filed the instant petition.

Ali Gohar Durrani said powers of attorney would be produced before the court ahead of the next hearing.

Meanwhile, a high court bench consisting of Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Shakeel Ahmad disposed of a petition filed by PTI central leader Ali Mohammad Khan, challenging his re-arrest on July 25 on the order of the DC under section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance.

Ali Mohammad was set free on Jul 27 on the order of the high court after he had remained in detention for around 80 days.

Advocate General Aamir Javed contended that the present petition had become infructuous as the impugned detention order of Mardan’s deputy commissioner had already been suspended after which the detainee was freed.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2023