Against govt officials: PTI leaders urge SC to initiate contempt proceedings

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders requested the Supreme Court on Tuesday to initiate contempt proceedings against government functionaries for violating its May 25, 2022, order which prohibited raids against and arrests of PTI leaders and workers.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and also comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Mazahar Akbar Naqvi will be hearing a contempt petition of the federal government against PTI Chairman Imran Khan for violating the commitment given to the apex court not to hold a protest at D-Chowk, on Wednesday (today).

Former member of the National Assembly (MNA) Khurram Nawaz and party member Malik Fakhar Ali on Tuesday filed the contempt of court petition and cited Ministry of Interior Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar, Inspector General of Police Islamabad Akbar Nasir Khan, and Senior Superintendent of Islamabad Police (operation) Malik Jamil Zafar as respondents.

The petition maintained that the respondents “installed and placed thousands of containers at different places of Islamabad and created obstacles for free movement of citizens of Pakistan, blocked many areas and avenues”.

It added that they were “taking coercive measures against the party members/workers/common citizens of Pakistan, extending threat openly through all sources of media, airing paid advertisements on media, on one hand, and have prepared a list of party workers/members/activist Police Station wise and now have started arresting them and raiding their houses without any offence”.

It maintained that the act of the respondents is “illegal, unlawful, without lawful authority, unwarranted, null and void”.

It further said that on Monday, “the respondent police and contingents of Frontier Constabulary work under the administrative control of the respondents, raided the houses of the petitioners without any offence and warrant but fortunately they were not present at their house at the time of raid”.

“This raid is [a] blatant example of police atrocities, misuse of authority and abuse of process of law,” the petition stated.

According to the petition, the government authorities had committed contempt of the apex court’s orders by not complying with their earlier orders.

“The respondents have frustrated and abused the process of law by ignoring [and] disobeying the direction/commitment by not fulfilling the direction for the assuring and protecting the fundamental rights of the individual as protected and safeguarded under fundamental rights of [the] chapter of the Constitution”.

Pleading that a contempt case is initiated against the respondents, the petitioners stated that “the respondent does not have respect for this Honourable Court and did not take into account orders” and would keep violating orders unless contempt proceedings were initiated.

Meanwhile, JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza filed contempt petition against the PTI leadership for not honouring the apex court orders dated May 25.

He said that in 2014 as well the PTI had attacked PTV, Parliament building, and the government office situated on Red Zone.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022