PESHAWAR, Aug 31: A former MNA of Pakistan Muslim League-N, Haji Jawed Ibrahim Paracha, filed on Monday a writ petition in the Peshawar High Court, requesting it to restrain the government from arresting him.

A two-member bench of the high court will take up for hearing the writ petition on Sept 2. The petitioner stated that he had neither committed any crime/offence nor was aware of abetment or conspiracy for commission of any offence.

He stated that he had no links with the so-called terrorists, and prayed the court to enforce his fundamental right guaranteed under Article 9 of the Constitution, to the effect that respondents be restrained from depriving him from his liberty unless and until the said respondents produced material before the high court justifying his arrest/detention.

Few days back, the former federal ministers for interior and information, Faisal Saleh Hayat and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, had charged Mr Paracha of having links with militants.

Mr Paracha prayed the court to accept his writ petition, filed under Article 199 of the Constitution, and issue appropriate orders/directions to the respondents not to arrest the petitioner in the cases referred by the two former ministers till the satisfaction of the court.

The petition is filed through senior advocate Qazi Mohammad Anwer. Respondents in the petition are: the Federation of Pakistan through secretary interior division, Pakistan government, the NWFP government through secretary home and tribal affairs department, Peshawar, inspector-general of police, NWFP, and inspector-general of police, Capital Territory, Islamabad.

The petitioner had earlier filed an application seeking pre-arrest bail. That application was fixed for Aug 24 and its next hearing will be on Sept 3. That application was filed under section 297 of the CrPC.

The petitioner stated that it was his fundamental right under Article 9 of the Constitution that he should not be deprived of liberty save in accordance with law and it was guaranteed by the Constitution that a person could neither be arrested nor detained without there being sufficient reasons/justification.