PHC suspends KP order on FIRs against ruling coalition leaders

• Peshawar High Court's order comes after six PDM leaders were booked.
• The booked leaders included Nawaz, Zardari, Fazl, and others.
• KP wanted to arrest PDM leadership “for speeches against institutions.”

PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday suspended a notification of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to authorise an administrative officer to lodge cases against the leaders of the Pakistan Democratic Movement on Friday — a day after six politicians were booked in Dera Ismail Khan.

Additional Assistant Commissioner Munir Ahmad lodged FIRs in a local police station in DI Khan against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, former president Asif Ali Zardari, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar.

Interestingly, an FIR was also lodged against PTI leader Shahbaz Gill for speaking against the state institutions.

The cases were lodged under various sections of the law, including 109, 124A, 120B, 153, 131, 506, 505, and 500A, for sedition, intimidation, defamation, inciting mutiny, etc.

The FIRs mentioned the past speeches of the political leaders in which they were said to have spoken against the state institutions and asked for action against them under the law.

As per the time of the FIR, all these were lodged on Thursday evening (at around 7:40pm), a day before a petition was fixed for hearing before the PHC.

On Friday, a division bench of the PHC comprising Justice Waqar Ahmad and Justice Shahid Khan heard a writ petition filed against the notification of the KP government that authorised an additional assistant commissioner for registration of FIRs against PDM leadership “for speeches against institutions.”

The court issued notices to the respondents including chief minister KP, cabinet members, chief secretary and others for September 13.

The notification was challenged by a local lawyer Shabbir Hussain Gigyani who asked the court to declare the notification null and void.

It was stated in the petition that there is strong apprehension of misuse and abuse of the impugned notification by the respondents, which will create hurdles for the state functionaries and worthy courts and will create chaos, anarchy, and lawlessness.

The KP cabinet last week approved under section 196 CrPC for registering FIRs against the PDM leaders and authorised an additional assistant commissioner in Dera Ismail Khan in this regard.

This was done after a case was lodged against the former prime minister and chairman PTI Imran Khan in Islamabad after his speech. An application was also submitted in the East Cantt Police Station in Peshawar by a local lawyer for lodging a case against Prime Minister Shehbaz, Nawaz, and Fazl. The application was later withdrawn.

Originally published in The News