PTI stopping trucks from entering Afghanistan is illegal, declares PHC
Court says govt should safeguard right of freedom of movement along with other human rights.
File photo of PTI working checking documents of trucks. PHOTO: SAMEER RAZIQ/EXPRESS
PESHAWAR:
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) declared the stopping of trucks carrying Afghan transit trade supplies from entering Afghanistan by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers to be illegal, Express News reported on Tuesday.
The court said that the government should safeguard the right of freedom of movement along with other human rights.
On December 17, a trader had filed a writ petition at PHC challenging the blocking of supply lines to Afghanistan by members of PTI, the major coalition party.
The petition was filed by Haji Lal Muhammad through his lawyer Shah Nawaz Khan. Muhammad is a businessman who exports various items, including rice, to Afghanistan.
He had filed the petition under Article 199 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
PTI protests
The protests started on November 23 after the Hangu drone strike at a madrassa on November 21 that had killed six people including members of the Haqqani network and injured at least eight others.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan had stepped up his rhetoric since a drone attack that killed the leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Hakimullah Mehsud on November 1.
Imran had urged the government to halt trucks travelling through Pakistan with supplies for Nato forces in Afghanistan. But the government had shown no appetite for the move, leaving PTI activists to take matters into their own hands.
PTI supporters armed with clubs set up checkpoints on roads in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and forcibly searched trucks for Nato supplies being an inconvenience for Afghan transit trade as well.
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) declared the stopping of trucks carrying Afghan transit trade supplies from entering Afghanistan by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers to be illegal, Express News reported on Tuesday.
The court said that the government should safeguard the right of freedom of movement along with other human rights.
On December 17, a trader had filed a writ petition at PHC challenging the blocking of supply lines to Afghanistan by members of PTI, the major coalition party.
The petition was filed by Haji Lal Muhammad through his lawyer Shah Nawaz Khan. Muhammad is a businessman who exports various items, including rice, to Afghanistan.
He had filed the petition under Article 199 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
PTI protests
The protests started on November 23 after the Hangu drone strike at a madrassa on November 21 that had killed six people including members of the Haqqani network and injured at least eight others.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan had stepped up his rhetoric since a drone attack that killed the leader of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Hakimullah Mehsud on November 1.
Imran had urged the government to halt trucks travelling through Pakistan with supplies for Nato forces in Afghanistan. But the government had shown no appetite for the move, leaving PTI activists to take matters into their own hands.
PTI supporters armed with clubs set up checkpoints on roads in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and forcibly searched trucks for Nato supplies being an inconvenience for Afghan transit trade as well.