LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday disposed of a petition of former chief minister Parvez Elahi against his 30-day detention under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) issued by the deputy commissioner (DC).

Earlier, Advocate Amir Saeed Rawn appeared before the court on behalf of Mr Elahi and stated that the government issued the impugned detention order with a mala fide intention only to thwart the release of the petitioner after he secured bail in all cases against him.

He said the petitioner had been in jail for over one month due to politically-motivated cases. The counsel asked the court to set aside the detention order of Mr Elahi for being illegal.

Justice Ali Baqar Najafi asked the counsel whether the petitioner had availed the first remedy of the law by filing an appeal before the deputy commissioner against the detention order.

In another case, LHC suspends single bench order restraining police from arresting ex-Punjab CM in any ‘undisclosed’ case

Advocate Rawn said there were precedents when the high court entertained petitions against the deputy commissioner’s orders.

However, the judge said it would be appropriate to avail the first remedy.

The judge asked a government’s law officer how many days the DC would take to decide the appeal of the petitioner. The law officer said 10 days should be given to decide the appeal.

Commenting on the detention order of the petitioner, the judge reminded the law officer that the government was not setting a good precedent by issuing detention orders on the basis of mere allegations.

The judge observed that the government should have ample evidence to support its allegations before issuing a detention order against an individual.

Justice Najafi disposed of the petition as Mr Elahi’s counsel withdrew the petition to file it before the DC.

‘Undisclosed’ case

Separately, a two-judge bench of the Lahore High Court suspended a single bench’s order that restrained the police and Anti-Corruption Establishment from arresting Mr Elahi in any undisclosed case.

The bench, headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, passed the suspension order on an intra-court appeal of the provincial government.

The additional advocate general argued before the bench that the single judge issued the impugned decision contrary to the law.

He asked the bench to set aside the impugned order for being illegal.

The bench suspended the decision and issued notices to the respondents for Aug 1.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2023