PESHAWAR, Aug 2: A two-member bench of the  Peshawar  High Court  on Wednesday declared the detention of a person under  the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) by the administration of  Khyber Agency as illegal and ordered his immediate release.

The bench comprising Justice Ijaz Afzal Khan and Justice  Raj Mohammad Khan accepted a habeas corpus petition and observed that the  administration could not prove anything on record  that  the detainee, Humayun Khan, had committed any illegal act.

Advocate   Fazal  Ilahi  appeared  for  the  petitioner   and contended  that  the  detainee  was  complainant  in  a  case  of abduction  of a person named Asghar.

He added that the  abducted person  was later on recovered from Landi Kotal  (Khyber  Agency) and before a jirga there the detainee also furnished a bond  that whenever he was required he would appear there.

Mr  Ilahi  argued that in an arbitrary manner  the  assistant political  agent (APA), landi Kotal, issued his  arrest  warrants although he was a resident of settled area.

He added that the local police arrested him from Panjpir in Swabi district on June 18 and was handed over to the tribal administration.

He  added  that despite the passage of more than 40  days  the detainee had not been told about what crime he had committed.

Advocate Iqbal Durrani appeared for the tribal  administration and contended that the detainee was arrested in connection with a monetary  dispute,  thus the high court had  no  jurisdiction  to entertain the petition.

A tehsildar also appeared before the court and claimed that the detainee  belonged to a gang of drug traffickers.

The bench  took exception to their conflicting statements and observed that  they could  not prove anything on record regarding the arrest  of  the detainee.

The  bench  asked Mr Durrani why the administration  had  been misusing   the   law.  

The  court  asked  him   to   advise   the administration to maintain rule of law.