PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court ruled on Tuesday that a campaign by activists of PTI and its allied parties to stop and check trucks and containers taking goods to Afghanistan was illegal and unconstitutional.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Malik Manzoor Hussain issued the verdict on a petition of Haji Lal Mohammad, a trader who had sought an order against the checking of trucks and containers loaded with goods by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf activists.

The detailed judgement will be issued later.

The petitioner had requested the court to direct the provincial police chief and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to enforce the rule of law, control the situation and prevent supporters of the PTI and other parties from violating the law.

PTI’s Information Secretary Dr Shireen Mazari was quoted as saying in a press release that a meeting of the party’s core committee would be held on Thursday to discuss the situation arising out of the PHC judgement.

The PTI activists have been holding a sit-in since Nov 24 on Peshawar Ring Road near Hayatabad Township against the US drone strikes in tribal areas and checking documents of containers and trucks carrying goods to Afghanistan. The party has been issuing press releases on a daily basis claiming that several containers meant for Nato forces in Afghanistan had been turned back.

The petitioner did not challenge the blockade of Nato supplies, but his counsel Shahnawaz Khan told Dawn that the court had declared the act of stopping containers and trucks as illegal. He said the detailed judgement would clear the matter.

The respondents in the petition were the federation of Pakistan through the interior secretary, KP chief secretary and home secretary, provincial police officer and the PTI through its provincial president.

The petitioner’s counsel contended that under the law a private individual had no right and authority to block a highway and check documents of vehicles. He alleged that activists of the PTI and its allied parties had been committing these illegal acts for more than three months, but the government and police were acting like silent spectators.

Shahnawaz Khan said that on the pretext of blocking Nato supplies, the activists had been checking documents/permits of every truck going to Afghanistan. “This act is badly affecting exports and business and causing a law and order situation,” he said, adding that the action was a violation of Article 18 of the Constitution which guaranteed freedom of trade and profession.

The petitioner said he was a taxpaying businessman exporting various items, including rice and perishable goods, to Afghanistan and was registered with the government by the name of “Lal Mohammad Traders”.

Additional Advocate General Mian Arshad Jan informed the court that the provincial government had not supported any illegal act and police even registered FIRs against some activists found involved in stopping the trucks. The petitioner’s counsel said the AAG’s contention supported their stance that the PTI activists had been acting in an illegal manner. He said the government was duty bound to enforce the rule of law and curb violation of the law, but in the present case it had failed to perform its duty, thus multiplying problems for people.