The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday declared the deputy commissioner's orders to arrest those accused of involvement in May 9 protests under Maintenance of Public Order (3 MPO) as null and void.
The law of 3 MPO in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) had been challenged in the high court.
A writ petition was filed by Advocate Naeem Ahmed Khattak through the mediation of Advocate Ali Azim Afridi against the powers granted to the district governments under 3 MPO. In the writ petition, the provincial government had been made a party through the chief secretary and the law secretary. It was submitted that the bill is not correct and is unconstitutional.
According to the writ petition, any citizen can be arrested without giving any reason under the law of 3 MPO. Along with this, the administrative officers have the power to issue, execute, punish, and try warrants, it noted.
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Although the SC has on various occasions given decisions regarding the separation of the administration from the judiciary, judicial powers have been completely abolished in this regard, Afridi pointed out.
He noted that under MPO, there is no trial and everyone is arrested and thrown in jail without assigning any reason, he had added.
Subsequently, the PHC sought a response from the K-P caretaker government over the arrests of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers under MPO.
However, K-P Advocate General Amir Javid objected to the admissibility of the writ petitions, saying that they could not be heard at the time because the provincial cabinet had imposed an emergency in the province.
A two-member bench of the high court, comprising Justice Shakeel Ahmed and Justice Waqar Ahmed, announced its previously reserved verdict today.
In a major relief to hundreds of PTI workers and leaders arrested in connection with the May 9 attacks on state installations, the court deemed the provincial administration's order illegal.
The PHC also nullified the deputy commissioner's orders for the provision of PTI worker's arrests.
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