PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday rejected the plea of Awami National Party central president Senator Aimal Wali Khan for the formation of a high-powered fact-finding committee on the “process of the militants’ resettlement and its link to the surge in the acts of terrorism in the country.”

A bench consisting of Justice Syed Mohammad Attique Shah and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah pronounced its short order after the completion of arguments by lawyers for the petitioner and federal and provincial governments.

It will release the detailed order afterward.

During the hearing, Justice Attique Shah observed that the court couldn’t interfere in the policy matters of the executive.

The petitioner had requested the court to set a timeline for the committee’s probe, make its findings public and ask the federal and provincial governments to stop resettling militants in his home province.

Detailed verdict will be issued later

Advocate Babar Khan Yousafzai and Barrister Sultan Mohammad Khan represented the petitioner, whereas assistant attorney general Daulat Khan and additional advocate general Asad Jan Durrani appeared for the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, respectively.

The petitioner’ lawyers insisted that during the last PTI rule, a secret deal took place between militants and the then government, leading to the resettlement of militants in parts of the province.

They added that the deal also caused the acts of terrorism to surge in the country.

The counsel claimed that constant statements kept coming from the office of the then prime minister, Imran Khan, and special assistant to the chief minister (now advisor) Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, regarding the resettlement of trained militants from Afghanistan in Pakistan.

They insisted that the country’s then president had also confirmed his involvement in the grant of immunity to 102 militants and that was reported in the media.

The lawyers contended that their client wanted formation of a fact-finding committee for fixing responsibility on those involved in resettlement of militants.

Justice Attique asked why the petitioner being a senator had not been raising the matter in parliament.

The bench observed that in the present situation the petitioner had assumed more importance as a senator.

It added that the petitioner should make his vote conditional to this matter in parliament.

Justice Asadullah also inquired whether talks were still in progress with those militants as nothing was available on file about the present situation.

The petitioner’s lawyers said that the petitioner had raised the issue in the Senate and had also sent a letter to the prime minister, but to no avail.

Barrister Sultan claimed that the ‘resettlement’ of militants had severe repercussions as the security situated had deteriorated alarmingly. He added that police came under attack last night in Swat resulting in injuries to many cops.

The bench opined that it would be better if the petitioner should convene a Jirga of all the parties to sort out this issue.

When the bench inquired what the state’s policy now was regarding resettlement, Barrister Sultan claimed it had stopped now.

He contended that the court had the powers to order formation of facts finding committee or commission on matters of public importance.

The bench wondered how it could order formation of a commission as it was the job of parliament.

Babar Yousafzai also argued that the deal with militants was held behind closed doors and was not discussed in parliament. He added that the petitioner had raised the matter at different forums, including parliament, but didn’t bear fruit.

He saidthe federal and provincial governments were empowered to constitute a fact-finding committee but when an individual wanted a probe into a particular matter, he had to move the high court for it.

The respondents in the petition included the country’s president, former prime minister Imran Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government through its chief secretary, former provincial chief minister Mahmood Khan, adviser to the chief minister Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, former Inter-Services Intelligence director general retired Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed, and the federal government through the interior minister.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2024