PESHAWAR, Dec 9: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday declared the detention of a resident of district Kohat by the administration under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance (MPO) as illegal and against the law .

The bench comprising Justice Malik Hamid Saeed and Justice Qaim Jan Khan ruled the detention of Khairullah Khan, in excess of the jurisdiction of the district administration of Kohat.

The bench accepted the petition filed by Mohammad Ali Shah, a close relative of the detainee, Khairullah Khan.

The detainee was arrested on Nov 15 under the MPO for a period of 30 days. A writ petition was filed by his relatives through Barrister Masood Kausar, who argued that the administration had no authority to detain a person in such an illegal manner. He added that putting restrictions on movement of a person was violative of the Constitution.

The administration had claimed that the detainee was a notorious figure and he was a threat to public peace and tranquillity. Earlier, the bench had reserved its judgment after completion of arguments by both the parties