The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed authorities to comply with its order within three weeks concerning a contempt of court petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) after the party was denied permission to hold a rally at Bagh-e-Jinnah, near Mazar-e-Quaid in Karachi, Express News reported.
The hearing, which took place on Tuesday, saw the appearance of PTI leader Haleem Adil Sheikh, Deputy Commissioner, SSP South, and other officials.
PTI's legal representative, Barrister Ali Tahir, argued that the court had previously ordered compliance within 10 days, but the matter has remained unresolved since November 9, despite other political parties being allowed to hold rallies at the same venue.
The counsel emphasized that the court had clearly instructed the relevant authorities to make a decision within the stipulated 10-day period.
In response, the Deputy Commissioner and SSP South submitted a report, citing security concerns as the reason for not granting permission for the PTI rally at Bagh-e-Jinnah.
The report outlined that the security situation did not permit such a large gathering at the venue.
After reviewing the submissions, the court reiterated its directive, ordering that the original ruling be implemented within three weeks.
On June 13, the SHC issued notices to the deputy commissioner and the SSP of District East on a contempt of court application filed by the PTI for not obeying the court order with regard to the grant of permission to hold a public meeting near the Mazar-e-Quaid.
Court's order
The SHC, in its May 16 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.
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.
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