PHC bars govt from harassing Hasaan Niazi

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) ordered the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government on Monday not to create any hindrances for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Barrister Hasaan Niazi during his appearance in a local court.

A two-member bench, comprising Justice Shakeel Ahmed and Justice Waqar Ahmed disposed of a writ petition after the K-P advocate general informed that there was only one case was registered against Niazi, a nephew of PTI chairman Imran Khan.

During the hearing, Qazi Muhammad Anwar Advocate appeared on behalf of Niazi. He told the court that Niazi was the spokesman for the PTI’s legal affairs, against whom a first information report (FIR) had been lodged over his social media post.

Niazi had tweeted that if something happened to Imran Khan, no Qari or Hafiz would be spared, Qazi said. Based on that tweet, Qazi added, cases were first registered in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan and then in K-P.

The lawyer informed the court that Niazi would appear in a court in Nowshera on April 19 but he didn’t know how many more cases had been pending against him in the province.

“Niazi is a law expert and he respects the law,” Qazi said, adding that the Nowshera Sessions Court had granted him interim bail. He stressed that if there was any other case against Niazi, he should be informed so that he could take appropriate legal measures.

About the FIR lodged in Nowshera, Qazi said that it was filed by a man, who had already been booked in a drug case. The accused would have read Niazi’s tweet in custody and the case was filed at his request. “This is beyond comprehension,” Qazi said.

He argued that the Constitution of Pakistan protected rights of all citizens. Therefore, his client had the right to know how many cases were registered against him in K-P so that he could consult with their legal team in this regard.

K-P Advocate General Amir Javed and Assistant Advocate General Yasin Raza appeared in the court on behalf of the government. They argued that nowhere in the world court relief was sought on the basis of assumptions.

The advocate general pointed out that Niazi had not filed an affidavit in his writ petition. He added that the affidavit had been filed by Niazi’s lawyer, while the Supreme Court had ruled on a number of occasions that the lawyer would not give any kind of affidavit.

According to the advocate general, Niazi was not appearing before the court, adding that if there was any danger, he would have appeared in relevant court and sought bail. He said that Niazi kept on spreading negative propaganda against state institutions.

Later, the court asked the advocate general to present details of all cases against Niazi. After a short break, Advocate General Amir Javed told the court that except Nowshera, there was no other case against Niazi in the province.

After that the court ordered that since there was no other FIR against Niazi, there was no justification for the government to create any problem or harass him. The court then disposed of the writ petition.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2023.