PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court (PHC) bench on Tuesday referred multiple petitions challenging the detention of PTI leaders, including Sohail Afridi — the non-functional Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister — to the chief justice for the constitution of a larger bench.
Afridi has not been seen since the imposition of governor’s rule and emergency in KP on Oct 11. His whereabouts remained unknown on the day governor’s rule was imposed, and a federal minister confirmed a day later that he and some of his cabinet members were in preventive custody.
The PTI has also alleged the detention and arrests of several of its other members, including lawmakers and ministers. Their whereabouts have not been disclosed by the government so far.
Multiple pleas have been filed in the PHC in this connection. A division bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Muhammad Faheem Wali took up the petitions on Tuesday.
Apart from Afridi’s detention, the petitions also pertain to the alleged disappearance of KP Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, MNAs Junaid Akbar and Dr Amjid Ali, provincial minister Amjid Ali Khan, MPAs Ikramullah and Aurangzeb Khan, former chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan Mohammad Khalid Khursheed and several other PTI leaders.
Afridi’s brother Mohammad Aamir filed one of the petitions, alleging that Afridi was “abducted” from Chief Minister House on the night that the emergency was imposed in the province. He had approached the PHC on Oct 13.
On Tuesday, the bench referred the pleas to the chief justice after the KP government and senior police officials failed to file their respective replies in accordance with the court’s Oct 20 directives.
“These are not ordinary personalities,” remarked Justice Ali during the hearing.
Meanwhile, KP Advocate General Sanaullah Khan sought three days to submit the replies, adding that his office was awaiting a response from the provincial home department, police and other law enforcement agencies.
Bashir Vazir, who appeared on behalf of the petitioners, alleged that the PTI leaders had been missing for many days. He contended that, under Article 199 of the Constitution, the PHC had authority to order that Afridi and Swati be produced before the court.
He further argued that the KP Assembly had passed an immunity law under which a member of the assembly could not be arrested in such manner, adding that the assembly’s speaker also could not be arrested under the law.
The law stipulated that the speaker would remain in office until a successor is elected, Vazir said.
According to the KP advocate general, in more than 200 instances of detentions under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance (MPO), orders were passed without the cases being heard.
The bench disagreed with the claim, observing that in those cases reports had been sought from the respondents but were never submitted. It further observed that the detentions under consideration were not MPO cases.
“This is an important case; the chief minister of the province is missing,” Justice Ali observed.
The bench said the court had given the respondents 10 days to file replies, but they had not complied with the order.
“We refer this case to the chief justice to constitute a larger bench,” Justice Ali said. The KP advocate general also requested the constitution of a larger bench.
