Karachi administration extends enforcement of Section 144 by two days

• Ban imposed on request of AIG Karachi, says notification.
• SHOs have been authorised to lodge complaint against violators.
• Earlier, Section 144 was imposed for five days from Oct 13-17.

KARACHI: The Karachi administration has extended the enforcement of Section 144 for an additional two days, until October 19, according to a notification issued on Friday.

Karachi Commissioner Hassan Naqvi, exercising powers delegated by the Sindh Home Department, imposed a complete ban on all types of protests, demonstrations, sit-ins, rallies and assemblies of more than five persons in the city.

As per the notification issued by the Karachi Commissioner Office, the ban on gatherings was imposed on request of the additional inspector general (AIG) Karachi.

The commissioner office said the station house officers (SHOs) of the concerned police stations have been authorised for the said days to register complaints against the violation of Section 144.

Earlier, Section 144 was imposed for five days from October 13 to 17 in the megalopolis, to bolster the security ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Islamabad.

It is pertinent here to mention that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced staging a countrywide protest on Friday (today) against the proposed 26th constitutional package.

“PTI political committee has decided to resist the constitutional amendments,” read a declaration issued by the opposition party on Wednesday.

The PTI’s core body has directed all regional and local organisations to hold peaceful protests against the government’s attempts to introduce the constitutional amendment.

The statement said the PTI would make all-out efforts to block the passage of proposed constitutional amendments in both houses of parliament.

The constitutional package, among other things, aims to set up a federal constitutional court and fix the tenure of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) for three years.