PESHAWAR, Oct 5: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday declared as illegal and unconstitutional the detention of eight activists of the defunct Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariah Muhammadi (TNSM) by the NWFP government under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Tariq Pervez and Justice Qaim Jan Khan accepted a writ petition filed by Iltaf Hussain, Riaz Khan, Ali Rehman, Gul Nawaz, Gul Bacha and three other members of the banned organization.

The detainees were arrested on July 7 and FIRs were registered against them in two police stations of Swat district. Later on, the NWFP home secretary issued their detention order under section 11 EEE of Anti Terrorism Act, 1997, a provision dealing with preventive detention.

The bench ruled that the provisions dealing with preventive detention could not be used in such an arbitrary manner without any valid charges against the detainees on record. The bench observed that the government could not issue a stereotyped order for detention of a person as liberty of an individual was guaranteed by the constitution.

Advocate Yousaf Khan Yousafzai appeared for the petitioners and argued that there were no charges against the detainees. He stated that two identical FIRs were registered against them in different police stations.

Mr Yousafzai argued that the detainees were not involved in any activities prejudicial to public safety and tranquillity. He added that there was no material on record to warrant the step of the government.

The state counsel claimed that the detainees were instigating general public against the government. He stated that they were delivering speeches which were against public peace.

Statements Recorded: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday recorded statements of three officials of the Anti-Narcotics Force and police in the proceedings started for declaring as proclaimed offender a convicted drug trafficker, Amanullah Kundi, whose prison term was suspended by the NWFP government and who has now been absconding. A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Tariq Pervez and Justice Qaim Jan Khan now summoned the SHO of police station Tank, Ghulam Jaffar, for recording his statement.

Those who recorded their statement on Wednesday included an inspector of ANF, Ghulam Hussain, and assistant sub-inspectors of DI Khan police Muhammad Rasheed Qureshi and Raheem Buksh.

They stated that they had searched for Mr Kundi in DI Khan and could not trace him out. They added that they had learnt that Mr Kundi had been hiding in Tank district.

The court had started the proceedings under section 87 of the Criminal Procedure Code after the repeated failure of Amanullah Kundi, a former provincial minister, to appear before the court in a writ petition filed by the ANF, challenging the provincial government order.