PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday sought reply from police department to plea of former lawmaker of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Abdul Karim, challenging the placement of his name in the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) by the Federal Investigation Agency.

A bench consisting of Justice Abdul Shakoor and Justice Syed Arshid Ali issued the order after preliminary hearing of the petition filed by Abdul Karim, directing that the deputy inspector general of police (investigation), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, should respond to it.

The petitioner claimed that FIA had placed his name in the PNIL that was illegal and unconstitutional act. The petitioner, hailing from Swabi, was earlier arrested on July 4 in connection with the May 9 protests and was subsequently charged in some other cases. However, he was finally released on the order of high court on August 21.

Advocate Muzamil Khan appeared for the petitioner and stated that initially his client was charged along with 300 other PTI leaders and workers in an FIR registered at Chota Lahor police station after the May 9 protests.

Abdul Karim was arrested on July 4 over May 9 protests in Swabi

He stated that the petitioner was granted bail in that case as well as other cases wherein he was charged. He contended that now the petitioner intended to go abroad but came to know that FIA had placed his name in the PNIL.

A representative of the federal government said that the list provided by the FIA clearly mentioned that his name was placed in it on the recommendation of the DIG (investigation). He also produced a letter of the DIG wherein it was requested to place the petitioner in the PNIL.

The bench decided to seek response of the DIG so as to know why he had recommended placement of the petitioner in the PNIL.

It is pertinent to mention that the FIA has been maintaining the PNIL for the last couple of years and in urgent cases the list is being used as a temporary arrangement to stop people placed therein from going abroad.

DETAILS: A bench consisting of Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah sought details from the provincial government about the criminal cases pending against a former MPA of PTI, Riaz Khan, and ordered that he should not be arrested till further order.

The bench directed that the law enforcement agencies including police and the anti-corruption establishment (ACE) should provide complete details of the cases they had registered against the petitioner, hailing from Buner district.

Advocate Shah Faisal Uthmankhel appeared for the petitioner and contended that police had been conducting frequent raids on the petitioner’s residence and harassing his family members.

He stated that the petitioner was already on bail in certain cases registered against him. He said that his family members were inquiring from the law enforcement agencies including police about the remaining cases against him, but they were reluctant to divulge any information.

He requested the court to issue directives for provision of the required details about the cases against the petitioner so that he could approach the relevant court to get relief.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2023