Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday questioned the legal standing of the agreement reached between the government and Faizabad protest leaders, saying that none of the terms could be legally justified.

"How can cases filed under the Terrorism Act be dismissed?" he asked during a hearing at the IHC regarding the recent sit-in at the Faizabad Interchange in the capital.

After the weeks-long protest that had virtually paralysed the capital, the government and leaders of Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLY) reached an agreement on November 26 in which the former conceded to the latter's demands — including dropping all the cases against the protesters.

Read more: Kidnapped police officials found by roadside in Rawalpindi with marks of torture

The IHC, however, had noted a "number of serious objections on the terms of agreement" and expressed its displeasure over the army’s role in the settlement made with the protesters.

"Who is the army to adopt a mediator's role?" Justice Siddiqui had inquired in the previous hearing. "Where does the law assign this role to a major general?"

Read: List of demands put forward by TLY and accepted by govt for ending the Faizabad protest

The IHC recommended that the legal standing of the agreement should be discussed in a joint session of the parliament, DawnNews reported.

Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Ashtar Ausaf, however, disagreed with the recommendation, saying that since the high court had taken suo motu notice of the matter, the judiciary should oversee it. He had appeared in court on Justice Siddiqui's orders.

The AGP requested the court to grant him some time to determine the legal position of the army's role as an arbitrator in the negotiations, saying that he was not in the country and needed time to prepare the report.

In a written order on November 27, the IHC bench had directed the attorney general to help the court determine how the armed forces could act as an arbitrator.

The Intelligence Bureau also presented a report on the botched operation against the protesters by the police in court today while the chief commissioner of Islamabad submitted a detailed report on the protest.

Meanwhile, special assistant to the prime minister, Barrister Zafarullah Khan, excused himself from IHC's order to prepare a report on the sit-in.

On November 27, the high court had tasked Zafarullah with filing a report on "what happened [during the sit-in] where and when" within 10 days.

The judge remarked that the protesters were guilty of blasphemy, pointing to the language used by the protest leaders and participants during the sit-in.

The hearing was adjourned until January 12.

Opinion

Editorial

Trump 2.0
Updated 07 Nov, 2024

Trump 2.0

It remains to be seen how his promises to bring ‘peace’ to Middle East reconcile with his blatantly pro-Israel bias.
Fait accompli
07 Nov, 2024

Fait accompli

A SLEW of secretively conceived and hastily enacted legislation has achieved its intended result: the powers of the...
IPP contracts
07 Nov, 2024

IPP contracts

THE government expects the ongoing ‘negotiations’ with power producers aimed at revising the terms of sovereign...
Rushed legislation
Updated 06 Nov, 2024

Rushed legislation

For all its stress on "supremacy of parliament", the ruling coalition has wasted no opportunity to reiterate where its allegiances truly lie.
Jail reform policy
06 Nov, 2024

Jail reform policy

THE state is making a fresh attempt to improve conditions in Pakistan’s penitentiaries by developing a national...
BISP overhaul
06 Nov, 2024

BISP overhaul

IT has emerged that the spouses of over 28,500 Sindh government employees have been illicitly benefiting from BISP....