The Peshawar High Court issued a warning on Tuesday, indicating that if the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is not permitted to carry out political activities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), it would summon the caretaker chief minister of the province and the chief election commissioner for an explanation.
“Both the chief minister and CEC will be asked about their failure to fulfil the responsibility of holding polls in a free and fair manner amid the PTI’s complaints of restrictions on its activities in the province,” Justice Ijaz Anwar observed during a hearing of a petition filed by former prime minister Imran Khan’s party for contempt proceedings against the provincial government and the administration of Mansehra district.
The court observed that if a political party is not allowed to hold a public meeting due to security concerns, it raises questions about the Election Commission of Pakistan’s ability to conduct general elections.
Attorney General Aamir Javed informed the court that a meeting had been called to assess the security situation, and a report would be provided within two days. The court scheduled the next hearing for November 23, focusing on the contempt petition against the caretaker government and Mansehra’s district administration.
The bench fixed Nov 23 (Thursday) for next hearing into the PTI’s contempt petition against the caretaker government and Mansehra’s district administration for “not allowing the holding of a workers’ convention despite the court’s orders.”
The petition was filed by PTI provincial president Ali Amin Gandapur, its provincial legal coordinator Mashal Azam, and Insaf Lawyers Forum provincial vice-president Malik Arshad Ahmad, requesting the court to initiate contempt proceedings against the relevant officers, including the provincial chief secretary, Mansehra DC and DPO, and others.
Lawyers Shah Faisal Uthmankhel, Ali Zaman, Inam Yousafzai, and others appeared for the petitioners and said a high court bench had disposed of on Oct 26 a plea of their clients after allowing the PTI to carry out political activities in the province.
PTI MPA offloaded
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, former PTI MPA Shaukat Ali Yousafzai was offloaded from a flight at Peshawar’s Bacha Khan International Airport.
Yousafzai’s flight was scheduled to depart at 9:15 am on Wednesday via Emirates flight EK-637 for Saudi Arabia, where he was to perform Umrah.
He stated that after the boarding process was completed, the airport’s security officials came and took him into their custody “without any reason”, as per Dawn.
The PTI ex-MPA added that when he asked the officials why he was being prevented from boarding the plane, they only replied they had “orders from authorities to not let you fly abroad”.
Yousafzai went on to say that he would approach the Peshawar High Court and file a case against the airport’s security officials for offloading him as, according to him, neither was there a first information report against him nor was his name on the Exit Control List.
PTI leaders arrested
In a related development, Liaqat Ali Yousafzai, PTI’s Shangla chapter president and brother of Shaukat Ali Yousafzai, along with six other party workers were arrested by the police for allegedly violating Section 144 during a party meeting in Shahpur. The PTI criticized the authorities, claiming unequal treatment compared to other political parties allowed to hold public meetings.
The situation reflects a growing tension between the PTI and local authorities, with the Peshawar High Court intervening to address concerns of restricted political activities in KP.
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