PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday restrained Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police from arresting Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s central leader Sher Afzal Khan Marwat in around 10 cases mostly registered against him after addressing his party conventions in different districts.

A single member bench of Justice Wiqar Ahmad Khan adjourned hearing of 10 petitions filed by Mr Marwat seeking quashing of FIRs registered against him in different police stations on account of participating and addressing workers conventions, which the government claimed were held in violation of the concerned SOPs (standard operating procedures) framed by the provincial home department.

The bench observed that these cases would be heard by a two-member bench.

However, the bench ordered that till next hearing no adverse action should be taken against Mr Marwat on the basis of the said FIRs.

PHC also grants bail to ex-minister Anwer Zeb

Mr Marwat contended that the said cases were registered during the ongoing targeting of PTI leaders by the government.

He contended that the FIRs were registered after workers conventions were held in Mardan, Dir, Swabi, Kohat and other districts in connection with the forthcoming elections.

He argued that holding and addressing a peaceful convention was his legal and constitutional right and was not a crime.

He stated that the high court had already issue directives to Election Commission of Pakistan to provide level playing field to all the political parties, but despite that they had been victimised.

Mr Marwat argued that the KP chief secretary had made commitment with the high court in the case of PTI leader Ali Amin Gandapur that all the parties would be treated equally.

He stated that PTI had emerged as the most popular political party of the country and due to same reason it had been victimised by the government. He claimed that through use of force and coercion their candidates had been pressurised and their nomination papers had also been rejected.

Additional advocate general Danyal Asad Chamkani argued that all the political parties had agreed on the SOPs for holding workers conventions and meetings and according to that a party arranging a gathering had to get NOC from the administration, so that proper security arrangements could be made.

He claimed that the PTI had hold conventions without getting NOC, which was illegal and due to same reasons the said FIRs had been registered.

Later, while reacting to the high court order of vacating a stay order and restoring the Election Commission of Pakistan decision of declaring PTI intra-party polls as void, Sher Afzal Marwat said that the order was unexpected for them and had creating problems for the party.

Talking to reporters after the court proceedings, he said that they would approach the Supreme Court to challenge the Jan 3 order of the high court.

He stated that the rejection of his nomination papers by the returning officer was surprising for him. He added that the papers were rejected on the ground that there were FIRs registered against him, despite clear judgment of the apex court that nomination papers of a candidate could not be rejected merely on basis of registration of cases.

ANWER ZEB CASE: The bench granted bail to former provincial minister Anwer Zeb Khan, who was arrested three days ago on the order of district Bajaur deputy commission under section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance.

The bench directed the petitioner to submit two surety bonds to the tune of Rs80,000 each.

The bench also directed the AAG Danyal Chamkani to submit report within seven days on behalf of the Bajaur DC and district police officer regarding arrest of the petitioner despite issuance of a restraining order by the court.

The petitioner’s counsel Mohammad Adil stated that the petitioner had filed a petition seeking directives of the court for the government to provide details about the cases registered against him.

He stated that on Jan 1, 2024, a bench had sought report about number of cases against the petitioner and had also directed the government and police not to take any adverse action against him till Jan 17.

However, he stated that the same day the petitioner was arrested by the police claiming that his detention order was issued by the DC under the MPO Ordinance.

He argued that the government wanted to deprive the petitioner from contesting the forthcoming elections due to which he had been detained.

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2024