RAWALPINDI: Justice Tariq Abbasi of Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench directed the local administration on Wednesday to remove containers placed at various entry points of the garrison city.

The judge passed the directions as a response to a petition filed by Rawalpindi Bar Association.

The petitioner, Raja Nasir Mehmood, contended before the court that the containers had blocked access to government offices, hospitals and business centres, which had highly inconvenienced the citizens.

He asserted that the blockage could be life threatening as many patients found it hard to reach the hospitals on time. This had also damaged the business activities in the city, the petition claimed.

After hearing the arguments, Justice Abbasi summoned Additional Advocate General Nadeem Akhtar Bhatti, who requested the court to grant him some time to submit a detailed reply after getting instructions from the quarters concerned.

Since the matter pertained to human rights, the judge decided not to delay the proceedings and issued an interim order.

He directed the local administration to remove the containers and clear all roads situated in LHC Rawalpindi Bench’s territorial jurisdiction, which expands from Jhelum to Attock.

However, the order is not effective in the federal capital, which looks like a ‘container city’.

Meanwhile, police lifted containers placed at Faizabad on Wednesday, opening the road to Islamabad, but they applied traffic rules more sternly on participants of the sit-ins than ordinary people.

The motorcyclists wearing armbands of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) colours or flying its flags on their motorcycle were stopped by the traffic police personnel and tickets were issued to them for various offences.

“I have been commuting between the twin cities for more than 20 years, but I have never been issued a ticket by the Pindi police for using my mobile phone while driving or not wearing a seatbelt,” said Barkat Ali, who was fined for attending a call on his mobile phone.

The situation also led to heated arguments between motorists and the police.

Police personnel maintained that the drivers should be aware of the traffic rules.

“We have been polite to the violators but it does not mean that law should not be observed,” said a traffic police sub-inspector posted at Shamsabad on Murree Road.

They also stopped vehicles and checked papers of the drivers.

Besides, almost all public transport vehicles, heading towards Faizabad, were stopped by the police on various pretexts.

One police personnel told the driver that he had violated law by bringing his vehicle on a different route.

According to another traffic police personnel, around 100 tickets were issued from Sixth Road to Faizabad on Wednesday; possibly in a bid to discourage people from travelling to Islamabad.

However no ticket was issued for similar violations on the other side of Muree Road. i.e. when coming to Rawalpindi from Islamabad.

Similarly, the staff of Islamabad Excise and Taxation Department has been deployed at Faizabad, in the jurisdiction of federal capital, to check papers of vehicles belonging to other districts, especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The authorities, however, said stringent security measures had been taken to ensure safety in the federal capital.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2014