ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday said no one has the right to disrupt commercial as well as passenger transport by staging a sit-in on the main national highways and motorways.
A single bench of Chief Justice Aamer Farooq heard a petition filed by traders against the closure of roads in Islamabad due to protests and sit-ins of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The petitioner submitted that the PTI protest would cause the federal capital to come to a halt.
During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that the people who wanted to hold a protest rally had a right to do it but without violating the basic rights of ordinary citizens. He added that, however, no one has the right to announce a sit-in on the Motorway and then block it.
The petitioner’s counsel said that the containers parked on the roads were causing difficulties for commuters. Advocate General Islamabad Barrister Jahangir Jadoon said that the PTI’s application for obtaining NOC for the sit-in and rally was also pending and suggested that it would be appropriate to hear both these petitions together.
Additional Attorney General Munawar Iqbal Duggal said that he had written to the Ministry of Law for a legal opinion.
Justice Aamer said that action should be taken in such matters immediately. The petitioner’s counsel said that orders should be issued to ensure the flow of traffic on highways and motorways.
He further said that as the Federation was in control of highways and motorways it could give directions in this regard and if highways and motorways were closed, trade would also be affected. He observed that no one had the right to occupy the motorways.
The IHC chief justice continued that Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui had ruled in the dharna case that all rallies would be held in the parade ground. He added that foreigners also live in Islamabad and the diplomatic movement also gets affected because of these protest rallies.
Later, the IHC bench clubbed traders’ petition against the possible closure of roads because of the PTI protest with the PTI’s plea seeking NOC for the sit-in and rally and deferred the hearing till Friday (today).
In its petition, the PTI had requested the court to issue orders to the deputy commissioner (DC) Islamabad to issue a NOC for the rally at Kashmir Highway Peshawar Morr in the context of the Supreme Court (SC)’s decision.
It further requested the IHC to issue orders to IG Islamabad to provide security for the rally and sit-in and to stop the harassment of PTI workers.
The PTI moved to court after the government rejected PTI’s sit-in request and the party had sought permission to organise the sit-in between G-9 and H-9 sectors on Srinagar Highway. The Capital administration had rejected an application of the PTI seeking permission to hold a public rally and sit-in in the federal capital.
However, the administration rejected the PTI’s NOC application and issued a letter to the party regarding the public rally and sit-in planned in Islamabad. The district administration, in the letter, asked the PTI to satisfy the administration in writing, adding that the party had violated the NOC that was provided to it on May 25.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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