Rangers personnel baton charge on employees of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) during a protest near Jinnah International Airport in Karachi on February 2, 2016. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI: The Sindh High Court issued on Monday notices to the deputy attorney general (DAG) on a petition against the deployment of civil armed forces at protests by employees of the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (PIAC) against the national flag carrier's proposed privatisation.
Headed by Justice Ahmed Ali Sheikh, the bench also directed the petitioner to argue on the maintainability of the plea and adjourned the matter for two weeks.
During the February 2 protest, Rangers personnel deployed at the airport manhandled hundreds of PIAC employees along with journalists, with two protesters mysteriously shot dead. Following the incident, advocate Muhammad Siddiq Mirza took the interior secretary, PIAC chairman, Sindh chief secretary and Rangers director-general to court.
Mirza maintained in his petition that the federal government had deployed the paramilitary forced at the airport to dislodge protesters.
The joint action committee of the protesters had blamed the Rangers for the killing of the two employees and injuries to several others. "It can be seen that the protesting employees are treated as 'terrorists' and the Rangers have been used by the respondents against peaceful citizens," Mirza stated in the plea.
He alleged that the action taken by the respondent authorities against the employees is without lawful authority, as the paramilitary troops have been deployed by the interior ministry on the request of the provincial government with the objective to act against terrorists, their collaborators and facilitators, as defined under Section 7(6) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
The petitioner informed the two-judge bench that this was a case of public interest covering the fact whether Rangers can be deployed against legitimate protests. "There is no law which empowers the interior ministry and Rangers DG to deploy the force to disperse citizens, lawyers, media persons, and employees of an organisation protesting for their rights," he argued.
Therefore, he pleaded the court permanently restrain the provincial and federal governments from deploying the civil armed forces during protests by members of the above-mentioned segments of society. The court was also urged to declare the Rangers' action against PIAC employees without any lawful authority.
Moreover, the petitioner requested the court to pass appropriate orders for proper administration and protection of human rights as defined and recognised in the Constitution. Taking up the matter on Monday, the bench issued notices to the DAG to file comments of the interior ministry and other respondents.
Meanwhile, the petitioner was asked to satisfy the court on the petition's maintainability. The matter will be taken up after two weeks.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 9th, 2016.
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