PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday disposed of a petition seeking details of the cases registered against seven former lawmakers of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and directed law-enforcement agencies, including police, not to arrest them for the next seven days.

A bench consisting of Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah directed the former lawmakers to approach the relevant courts during that period.

The petition was filed by former Peshawar Bar Association president Ali Zaman on behalf of PTI leaders, including former MNAs Arbab Aamir Ayub and Arbab Sher Ali Khan, former provincial ministers Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra and Kamran Khan Bangash, former deputy speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Mahmood Jan Khan and former MPAs Asif Khan and Haji Fazal Ilahi.

The petitioner sought the court’s orders for law-enforcement agencies to produce details of the cases and inquiries against and preventive detention orders for those seven PTI leaders.

Disposes of petition seeking details of cases against them

He also requested the court to direct the government and law-enforcement agencies not to make “illegal and unlawful” raids on their houses and offices and those of their immediate and extended family members in connection with the May 9 violent protests insisting that such actions were unwarranted.

Advocate Ali Gohar Durrani appeared for the petitioner and said PTI leaders were willing to surrender to the relevant courts but they feared arrest before their appearances in the courts.

He said the government had not been providing them with details of cases registered against them.

The lawyer claimed that from May 9 on, it became apparent that false and frivolous charges were repeatedly levelled against PTI workers and scores of FIRs were registered accusing individuals of committing wrongdoing.

Additional advocate general Danyal Asad Chamkani appeared for the provincial government and said those seven people were required in different cases and they had presently been in hiding after the May 9 protests.

He claimed that the former lawmakers in question were fully aware of the cases wherein they were charged along with other party workers after the violent protests that occurred in the province on May 9 and10.

Mr Chamkani contended that those seven people had not approached the court directly and if such practice was not discouraged, it would create problems in future.

The bench observed that the government agencies should act in accordance with the law on such matters.

A representative of the National Accountability Bureau informed the bench that presently, no case was registered against seven people.

Meanwhile, an anti-terrorism court granted interim pre-arrest bail to former PTI MPA Asif Khan until Oct 9 in three cases related to the May 9-10 protests.

The court issued notice to the prosecution and sought record of the cases.

Advocate Syed Sikandar Hayat Shah appeared for the former lawmaker and contended that his client was falsely implicated in those cases.

The cases were registered at the East Cantonment and Khan Raziq Shaheed police stations. Scores of PTI leaders and workers have been booked for attacking the regional office of the Election Commission of Pakistan and torching the Radio Pakistan building and Chaghi monument.

Meanwhile, Peshawar’s additional district and sessions judge Attaullah Jan granted interim pre-arrest bail to former MPA Fazal Ilahi until Oct 12 as he faced the charge of leading a mob for attacking a grid station.

The FIR of the attack was registered at the Rehman Baba police station on April 30, 2023.

The court directed police to produce records of the case.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2023