KARACHI: Mr Justice Abdul Kadir Shaikh, Senior Puisne Judge of the High Court of Sind and Baluchistan … transferred the bail application of Mr Altaf Gauhar, Editor, Dawn, to a larger Bench for hearing. Mr Justice Shaikh said that the larger Bench may be cons­tituted as the Chief Justice may desire.

He said that for further arguments on the bail application notices have to be issued to the Attorney-General as the defence has taken the plea that the Defence of Pakistan Rules are ultra vires. Since the DPR is a subject of the Central Government, the presence of the Attorney-General is necessary, the court observed.

Meanwhile, the applicant has also challenged through a separate petition the legality of the special tribunal which has been constituted to try him. … The defence counsel, Mr Manzur Qadir submitted that the Defence of Pakistan Ordinance of Nov. 23, 1971 was promulgated in view of the threat of war and only for meeting the emergency of war and therefore “it has no legal effect now, when such conditions do not exist”. The DPR, he said, should have automatically lapsed even before it was formally withdrawn. Rule 201 of the DPR was to meet the threat of war for which the Ordinance was promulgated.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2023