LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday referred to the federal law ministry two writ petitions challenging the provisions of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance 1960.

A five-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice Aalia Neelum heard the petitions moved by the PTI’s former MPA Zainab Umair and others, challenging detention orders of the party workers since the May 9 riots and the alleged abuse of powers by the deputy commissioners (DCs) in the province.

Advocate Azhar Siddique appeared on behalf of the petitioners.

During the hearing, the chief justice observed, “Everyone wants peace. But if peace is disturbed, who will be held responsible? What happens if a protest is not peaceful?”

The bench asked whether the petitioners wanted the matter to be referred to the law department for a review of the amendments to the preventive detention law.

Chief Justice Neelum remarked that laws are framed on the foundation of the Constitution.

In his arguments, Advocate Siddique asked whether section 3 of the MPO Ordinance 1960 had been applied correctly.

He argued that several provisions of the law were in conflict with the Constitution and that hundreds of people had been detained under its cover.

He said the law had been misused politically and arbitrarily by the government.

He pointed out that before detaining a citizen, the government must satisfy itself with justifiable grounds. However, he alleged that dozens or even hundreds of people had been detained under a single order.

The chief justice remarked, “The courts are awake, not asleep, that’s why the system functions.”

Advocate Siddique stated that under the preventive detention law, a single order was meant to apply to only one individual, not multiple persons.

The bench, while concluding the proceedings, decided to forward two of the petitions to the law ministry for a legal review of the preventive detention order provisions and disposed of two others as being withdrawn.

Last year, a report submitted by the Punjab chief secretary in the court revealed that 3,511 out of 4,770 “miscreants” detained under the MPO in the province since May 9 riots had been released.

The report said as many as 3,232 detention orders had been issued against 4,770 miscreants in the province.The report further said that the provincial government had delegated its powers under section 26 of the MPO Ordinance 1960 to the DCs through a notification in 2017, allowing them to issue detention orders subject to reasonable restriction.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2025