PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has formally approached the Peshawar High Court (PHC) for the formation of a judicial commission to find “facts” about the May 9, 2023, violent protests in the province.

The provincial cabinet, in its meeting on June 27 this year, had decided to form a judicial commission to probe riots that erupted after the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf founder Imran Khan in Islamabad.

In a letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn, KP advocate general Shah Faisal Utmankhel told the high court’s registrar that the objective of the judicial commission was to “inquire into the facts surrounding the May 9, 2023, [violence] which is a public importance issue.”

He insisted that as the jurisdiction of the inquiry officer was concerned on any matter that had been dealt in sections 178 and 170 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, so the commission, according to the law, had got every jurisdiction to conduct inquiry under those laws.

Advocate general writes letter to court’s registrar

The advocate general said he, as the principal law officer of the province, was asked by the provincial government to consult with the chief justice of the PHC for the nomination of the judicial officer as the chairman of the judicial commission.

“It is requested that name/names of judicial officer(s) kindly be intimated to the undersigned for onward submission to the provincial government of KP for constituting/notifying the tribunal/commission/inquiry under reference,” the letter said.

On May 10, 2024, the KP Assembly passed a resolution, demanding an “independent” judicial inquiry into last year’s riots and the release of their CCTV footage.

“This assembly recommends that the provincial government ask the federal government to immediately withdraw all fake cases against Qaidi Number 804 [prisoner No 804] Imran Khan and [his wife] Bushra Bibi, and release all May 9 prisoners so that the agitation in the public ends. May 9 incidents should be probed by an independent judicial commission, and their CCTV footage should be made public,” read the resolution, which was adopted by majority.

On June 27, the provincial cabinet approved the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the riots and backed the provincial assembly’s resolution, which also called for the release of the PTI founder and other political prisoners.

On May 9, 2023, violent protests were reported in KP, like other parts of the country, with mobs torching the building that housed the offices of Radio Pakistan and APP news agency to protest the arrest of Imran Khan.

Pitched battles broke out between the police and protesters in Peshawar as the latter tried to enter the Khyber Road where key installations were located.

Violence in the province left seven people dead and more than 122 injured. The police arrested 274 people across the province in connection with the May 9 violent protests.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2024