LAHORE: A Lahore High Court full bench will announce on Thursday (today) its verdict on a plea against Raiwind protest of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf that wants accountability of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members in wake of Panama Leaks.

After hearing lengthy arguments from government side, petitioner and the party (PTI) on Wednesday, the bench headed by acting Chief Justice Shahid Hameed Dar reserved the verdict.

Justice Anwarul Haq and Justice Qasim Khan are the other members at the bench.

During the hearing, the Lahore city district government and the police presented the plans they had prepared to manage the PTI activity and ensure security of those participating in it.

The bench was told that over 7,000 cops had been engaged to ensure security of the protesters.

At one point, Justice Dar expressed concern regarding flow of traffic on Sept 30 in the city, saying deaths had been reported because of blockade of roads during the party’s past protests.

PTI’s counsel, Ahmad Awais, told the judges the government had needlessly blocked the roads during previous protest of the party. He said the PTI agitation had always been peaceful and staging a peaceful protest was the right of every citizen and party.

Additional Attorney General Naseer Ahmad Bhutta, however, opposed this stance of the party’s counsel and said there had been violence in previous rallies of the PTI. The protesters had tried to damage the public property, he said and added that the party should be asked to define limits of a peaceful protest.

Justice Dar observed that the party could wait for the decision of its petition on Panama issue pending adjudication before the Supreme Court.

Advocate Awais said the purpose of the protest was to highlight the seriousness of Panama Leaks issue and accountability of the rulers. He said protests had also been held in the past for restoration of the judiciary, besides parallel legal battles.

The petitioner’s counsel, A K Dogar, argued that there could be a clash between PML-N and PTI workers due to provocative speeches of Imran Khan. He asked the court to stop PTI from holding the protest at Raiwind.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2016