SHC rules in favour of PTI rally

Gives administration 48 hours to get things rolling

KARACHI:

The East district deputy commissioner will convene a meeting within 48 hours to finalize plans for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally in the next 10 days, said the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday adding that representatives of PTI should be present in the meeting.

The court, in its written order, declared that prohibiting the rally is a violation of the petitioner's fundamental rights. Specifically, the court held that this restriction violates Articles 16 and 17 of the Constitution.

The administration's refusal to permit the rally goes against the decisions of the Supreme Court too, the SHC said.

The court issued a written order over the PTI petition to allow it to hold a rally at Bagh-e-Jinnah Ground.

Read also: Bail of 50 PTI leaders, activists confirmed

The city administration is not allowing the party to stage a public gathering, forcing it to take the matter to the court.

In the written order, the court directed the DC East to convene a meeting within 48 hours of receiving the order to discuss the rally. All stakeholders, including the applicant, PTI, must be included in the meeting. The court expects all matters to be resolved within a week without any discrimination.

SHC emphasized that there should be no delays or unjustified obstacles. If there is any threat in Bagh-e-Jinnah, a rally can be held at an alternative location through consensus. A report on implementing the court orders should be submitted within ten days, the order stated.

Read: Bail of 50 PTI leaders, activists confirmed

On May 13, DC East had submitted a sealed report, which has been thoroughly reviewed. The report failed to provide solid justification for disallowing the rally. Notably, a meeting was held on May 2 at a short distance from Bagh-e-Jinnah.

The court passed the observation that a security threat alert was issued before the rally on April 19. However, no concrete evidence or material was presented regarding the issuance of the threat alert.

East district DC and SSP and others were given an opportunity to justify not allowing the rally. Deputy Commissioner, SSP East, and others failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for prohibiting the rally, even after the deadline had passed.

The petitioner claimed that from the official stand, it seems that PTI is being discriminated against.

Missing TikToker

The Sindh High Court on Thursday ordered the Railways Police SSP to appear on the petition for the recovery of the missing TikToker and YouTuber Ali Hassan.

The petitioner said that his son has been missing since June 18, 2023. “On June 18, my son was seen at Railway Police Station Sukkur. When I went to the police station concerned, they said that they will release my son,” father of Ali Hasan said, adding that to this day his son could not be recovered.  “I also met with the DIG Sukkur and Railway Police Station officials several times, but my son was not recovered.”

The court expressed its displeasure at the absence of SSP Railways. The court ordered SSP Railways to appear in person on May 31.