PHC moved against PTI’s Nov 24 protest plan

PESHAWAR: A citizen on Thursday moved the Peshawar High Court (PHC) to stop the upcoming protest march to be led by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur towards Islamabad for the release of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former prime minister Imran Khan on November 24.

The writ petition, filed by Jalaluddin through advocates Afroz Khan and Barrister Qazi Babar Irshad, has made the KP CM, provincial cabinet, chief secretary and the additional chief secretary for Home Affairs as respondents.

The petition claimed that the proposed protest march was unconstitutional and it could lead to law and order situation in the province and country and prayed the court to declare it unconstitutional.

The petition said that the petitioner was a resident of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the provincial government had a constitutional obligation to protect the fundamental rights of its citizens.

However, it pleaded that the provincial government had failed to fulfil constitutional obligation, and instead, it had focused on organising protests and sit-ins.

The petition also claimed that the CM had directed government employees to participate in the protest, which was illegal.

Giving details, the petition argued that the Punjab government had already confiscated several Rescue 1122 vehicles and detained scores of employees during the previous protest rallies.

It added that the recent fire incident at the Hayatabad Industrial Estate, where billions were lost because fire-fighting vehicles were impounded by the Punjab government, which led to delay in the fire-fighting response.

The petitioner pleaded that he had filed a petition in the public interest, as the provincial government had failed to safeguard citizens’ rights and was instead pursuing its own interests through protests.

The petition prayed the court to declare the protest march unconstitutional and against fundamental rights and also prevent the use of government resources for it.

Meanwhile, sources in the PHC said that the court had returned the petition with certain objections, including the failure to make the federal government as a party in the case.