The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday issued notices to the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments in several petitions challenging the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in the province on Oct 11. PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan moved the PHC on Oct 14 against the measures, requesting the court to declare them unconstitutional. The move to impose emergency and governor’s rule followed heightened tensions between the PML-N-led federal government and the PTI-led KP government.

On Tuesday, a two-member bench comprising Justices Ijaz Anwar and Muhammad Faheem Wali took up several petitions, including Gohar’s. PTI leader Shandana Gulzar, the KP Bar Council and leaders of the Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP) have also filed pleas. The bench adjourned the hearing till Nov 10 after hearing preliminary arguments. The court said an order would be issued afterwards, adding that notices would also be issued to Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan and the KP advocate general.

Barrister Sameer Khosa and PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja appeared on behalf of Gohar. Barrister Sameer argued that a resolution passed by the provincial assembly was mandatory for imposing governor’s rule and emergency. “No approval was obtained from the provincial assembly,” he told the court. Noting that the National Assembly and the Senate approved the action later, the lawyer said, “We have also challenged this in the miscellaneous application.” “The proviso to Article 232(1) states that approval from the provincial assembly is necessary.

The word ‘shall’ is used, which means this condition is mandatory,” the petitioner’s lawyer said. He reiterated that the measures had been taken without the provincial assembly’s approval and were therefore illegal. The counsel contended that the situation in KP was not beyond the provincial government’s control. Sameer further contended that the chief minister, Sohail Afridi, and the speaker of the provincial assembly were currently “missing”. Afridi, who has become non-functional as the KP CM, has not been seen since the imposition of governor’s rule and emergency. Federal ministers said a day later that he and some of his cabinet members were in preventative custody.

The bench then asked whether the petition included a request for the leaders to be presented before the court or recovered. “Yes, we have made that request in this application,” the counsel replied. He referred to a Supreme Court judgment in the case of ex-CM Pir Sabir Shah, in which the SC had established that the chief minister and the cabinet would continue to function if an emergency were imposed. “In the current case, the chief minister, the cabinet and the advocate general have been stopped from working and rendered inactive,” Sameer said.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)