KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Thursday issued notices to the provincial and police authorities on a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), impugning two orders of the provincial home department about the arrest and detention of over 40 party leaders and workers under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance.
A two-judge constitutional bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Saleem Jessar also put the provincial law officer on notice for Oct 28.
Citing the chief secretary Sindh, secretary home department, the provincial police chief and several other senior police officials as respondents, Shujaat Ali Khan petitioned the SHC and submitted that he was the senior vice president of the PTI Sindh chapter and invoked constitutional jurisdiction for protection of liberty and fundamental rights of the persons expressly named in the impugned preventive detention orders.
Initially, it was submitted in the petition that the impugned orders have threatened arrest and detention yet to be carried out and questioned the purported authority and legality of such orders.
During the hearing on Thursday, the lawyer for petitioner Ali Tahir submitted that now, all the persons listed in the impugned orders have been apprehended and put under preventive detention for 30 days and separate petitions have also been filed by their family members against such detention.
He also argued that most of the detained persons were local workers of the party and representatives at the town and union committee level.
He also pleaded for a short date and submitted that it would be better to dismiss the petition instead of fixing it for hearing after 45 days since the impugned detention was for 30 days and the issue of liberty was involved in the matter.
Thereafter, the matter was adjourned till Nov 4, but the counsel for the petitioner further insisted for an early date and subsequently, the bench fixed the matter for hearing on Oct 28.
It was also contended in the petition that impugned orders have constituted a mala fide, colourable, arbitrary and politically motivated exercise of power, issued for an extraneous and collateral purpose, namely the suppression of political opposition and peaceful democratic activity and not for the genuine maintenance of public order as contemplated by law.
The petitioner further submitted that both impugned orders lacked specific intelligence, individual acts or concrete material and merely relied upon a generalised allegation of instigating the public to block roads or highways and organise sit-ins.
Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2026
