PHC takes notice of roads’ closure in city

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday took notice of the closure of roads and rigorous checking by the law-enforcement agencies at checkposts in the city.

The court heard a writ petition filed by senior lawyer Muhammad Khursheed Khan seeking an order for removal of barricades and walls blocking entry to roads in the Cantonment and other areas of the provincial capital.

The division bench comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Younas Thaheem issued notice to the chief executive officer of the Cantonment Board Peshawar, provincial government and district nazim, asking them to explain why certain roads were closed in the city and the Cantonment.

The court observed that citizens are being unnecessarily dishonoured by members of the law-enforcement agencies as they have to show their computerised national identity cards (CNICs) 10 times while covering a small distance in the city.

“Citizens are being searched like they are entering from Mexico to the United States. It seems the law-enforcement agencies feel threat from their own people,” Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth observed.

Khursheed Khan, the lawyer who filed the petition, argued that the Frontier Corps despite having huge space in the Balahisar Fort had occupied Nazar Bagh by erecting barricades near the fort and created traffic problems in the city.

He said that at a little distance from Balahisar Fort, a wall was erected on a road towards the Civil Secretariat and Police Lines from the Peshawar Central Prison. The petitioner pointed out that barricades were also put up on the nearby road outside the MPAs Hostel and Governor’s House and thus half of the road was closed by the barricades.

He said another important road was also closed by erecting a wall close to the Governor’s House, Public Service Commission and Chief Minister’s House while there is strict checking on a link road near the Edwardes College.

He said that due to the barricades and walls on roads in the name of so-called security, the public was facing hardships in reaching certain government departments including Public Service Commission while the city also faced traffic mess.

He claimed that citizens were being humiliated in the name of snap checking. The petitioner said that link roads towards the Mall Road from Qayyum Stadium were also being closed by walls. He pointed out that a neighbouring country’s consulate had occupied a complete road at Park Avenue and protests by the residents against it were ignored. He said the University Town Police Station had also occupied the service roads outside the police station.

The petitioner said almost all link roads leading to Defence Colony had also been closed. The lawyer, who in the past served as deputy attorney general, stated that the Lakki-Dera Ismail Khan road was opened on the orders of the PHC chief justice. He requested the court to also issue orders to the respondents to remove all the barricades and walls from roads in Peshawar.  The court fixed October 24 for next hearing in the case.