PTI’s Afridi, Gulzar set free on IHC order

Court initiates contempt proceedings against judicial magistrate, cop

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday suspended orders issued for detention of two PTI leaders, Shehryar Afridi and Shandana Gulzar, and ordered their immediate release in what appears to be a big relief for the politicians who had been behind bars since the third week of May.

Hearing pleas against their detention under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance, a single-member bench comprising Justice Babar Sattar noted that the authorities had failed to satisfy the court that there existed an objective basis to detain the PTI leaders.

The court ordered authorities to set the politicians free immediately, noting that they would be at liberty to stay at their residences in Islamabad, subject to the condition that they do not leave the territorial jurisdiction of this court without its permission during the pendency of this case.

The IHC made it clear that Afridi and Gulzar will not be arrested or removed from the territorial jurisdiction of this court by any state authority in relation to any other case.

It said that as long as adjudication of this matter is under way, the Islamabad inspector general of police and chief commissioner shall be personally responsible for the safety of the PTI leaders and will ensure that they are able to attend the court when the matter is listed for hearing.

Afridi and Gulzar were detained on May 16 during a massive crackdown against the ruling party. The authorities had launched the crackdown after the alleged PTI supporters vandalized and set fire to state and army properties and memorials in retaliation to party chief Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9.

In its written order with regard to Afridi, the IHC said prima facie it appeared that the detention order issued by a district magistrate had no basis in law.

“The district magistrate’s fantastic assertion that the petitioner was inciting public-at-large in Islamabad, while he was behind bars in Adiala Jail and had been in detention for over 85 days strains credulity.

“It also impugns the efficacy of our prison system and projects MPO as a redundant tool should detenues continue to be able to incite public and threaten public order while under detention in jail.

The IHC said it was also unclear whether the district magistrate had been delegated the authority under Section 26 of the MPO and whether the impugned order suffered from jurisdictional defect.

It also appears, the court said, that the detention orders issued in Punjab, the KP and Islamabad had been synchronized in such a way that before or at the time of expiry, withdrawal or setting aside of a detention order, a subsequent order was issued like clockwork to keep the petitioner in detention.

“It also appears, in view of the report produced and the submissions of the district magistrate, that he accepted the request for issuance of the order as the command of a superior…

“[He regarded it as] the expression of apprehension on part of police authorities t…as Gospel, without independent application of mind before exercise of authority undermining the petitioner’s right to liberty guaranteed by Article 9 of the Constitution.

 “Notwithstanding the above, this court will grant further time to the state that has been sought to file reports as aforementioned to satisfy the court [on August 28] that the impugned order is neither illegal and mala fide nor suffers from a jurisdictional defect,” it noted.

The IHC also decided to indict the district magistrate and Islamabad senior superintendent of police operation for alleged contempt of court.

MPO case

Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday suspended a single-bench’s decision to make it mandatory for district authorities to get permission of a court of law for detaining an individual under Section 3 of the MPO.

A division bench of the LHC Rawalpindi Registry restored the deputy commissioner’s authority to detain an individual at any time without any permission.

The bench comprising Justice Jawad Hassan and Justice Mirza Waqas Rauf also issued notices to parties to submit their rejoinders within two weeks.

Proclaimed offenders

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Wednesday started the process of declaring three PTI leaders proclaimed offenders (POs).

The court directed the prosecution to publish a proclamation in the newspapers for the appearance of Hammad Azhar, Zubair Khan Niazi and Khalid Gujjar.

ATC Judge Ijaz Ajmad Buttar initiated the process under Section 87 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) on an application filed by the police.

The investigation officer of Lahore’s Race Course Police Station had filed the application with a plea to start the process of declaring the PTI leaders POs over not joining the investigation into their alleged role in setting police vehicles on fire at the PTI chief’s Lahore residence last year.