PESHAWAR, May 7: Taking exception to the ‘arbitrary’ detention of people under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance by various district coordination officers, the Peshawar High Court on Wednesday asked the government to withdraw the controversial detention orders.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Jehanzeb Raheem and Justice Shahji Rehman Khan observed that the court would issue appropriate order if the government failed to address the issue.

The bench adjourned hearing of seven habeas corpus petitions with an order to additional advocate-general Ishtiaq Ibrahim to contact government officials concerned and inform them about observations of the court. The bench fixed May 8 for next hearing.

In March last, the provincial government had delegated some powers to DCOs for detaining a person under section 3 of the MPO. Since then, there has been a surge in cases of detention under the MPO.

The petitions were filed by Yousaf Chand, Mohammad Naser, Shahid Khan, Arshid Khan, Aitbar Gul, Saleem and Bakhtiar, who had been detained by the DCOs of their areas for one month under section 3 of the MPO. About all the detainees, the government had claimed that they were anti-social elements and their activities were prejudicial to public peace and tranquillity.

When the court took up for hearing the petitions, the bench directed the AAG to contact the officials concerned and seek instructions from them whether they intended to withdraw the impugned orders or not.

Later, the AAG appeared before the bench and stated that the home secretary was not available in Peshawar. He added that the advocate-general intended to talk to the government on the issue because they had seen that the law was now being used in an arbitrary manner by DCOs.

Justice Jehanzeb observed that they had taken notice of the issue and would not allow misuse of the law. He asked the AAG: “How this law could be used against ordinary criminals?” The MPO could only be used in specific conditions, he said.

The bench observed that if the detainees had any criminal record, cases should be registered against them and they should be tried, instead of detaining them under the MPO.

The bench told the AAG that the government was answerable even for a single day illegal detention of a person. It directed the AAG that instead of doing politics they should behave like court officers and should take these matters seriously.

Mohammad Saleem Shakir appeared for some of the petitioners and argued that the charges against the detainees were baseless.

Meanwhile, another bench of the high court reserved its judgment over a habeas corpus petition challenging detention of an alleged anti-social element under the MPO in the Kohat district.

The bench comprising Justice Raj Mohammad Khan and Justice Ziauddin Khattak fixed May 9 for pronouncing the judgment.

The petition was filed by Humayun Khan, a close relative of detainee Qayyum Khan arrested by police on April 17 after his detention order was issued by the Kohat DCO under the MPO.

Masood Kausar appeared for the petitioner and contended that there were specific requirements for detaining a person under the MPO and merely being an anti-social element was not enough for detaining a person.