PHC seeks larger bench in Sohail Afridi’s recovery case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday referred the case concerning the recovery of deposed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi to the chief justice, requesting the formation of a larger bench to hear the petitions.

Following the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by the federal government on October 11, reports emerged about the alleged arrests of former chief minister Sohail Afridi and former provincial assembly speaker Babar Saleem Swati.

Afridi’s brother, Muhammad Aamir, filed a constitutional petition in the Peshawar High Court on October 13, alleging that armed and masked men had abducted the former chief minister from the Chief Minister’s House on October 11.

The petitioner sought Afridi’s recovery and production before the court, an investigation into the alleged incident, and directions to preserve CCTV footage and other relevant records.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Arshad Ali and Justice Faheem Wali heard the petition. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Advocate General and the petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Bashir Wazir, appeared before the court.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel argued that the court had the authority under Article 199 of the Constitution to order the production of the ‘chief minister’ and the ‘speaker’.

He said the governor and other officials had acknowledged in media statements that Afridi was in protective custody.

He urged the court to direct the inspector general of police to produce him before it.

The counsel further argued that the provincial government had enacted legislation prohibiting the arrest of a member of the provincial assembly in such circumstances.

Under the law, he said, the speaker could also not be arrested and would remain in office until the election of a new speaker.

Justice Arshad Ali asked the advocate general why the court’s earlier order had not been implemented.

The advocate general said he had received the report only on Tuesday and needed another three days to submit a response.

He said that reports had also been sought from the police, law enforcement agencies and deputy commissioners.

The judge remarked that the chief minister was missing and the Home Department should have all information about his whereabouts.

The advocate general, however, argued that hundreds of cases had previously been filed under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) without the government being asked to submit a response.

The court expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s response, observing that it had already been given time to submit its reply but had failed to comply with the judicial order.

Justice Arshad Ali remarked that the matter concerned public interest and warned that the case would be referred to a larger bench if the government maintained its current attitude.

The court noted that the government had been given 10 days to submit its response but had still failed to comply with its directions.

Subsequently, the bench referred the matter to the chief justice of the Peshawar High Court, requesting the formation of a larger bench to hear the petitions.

Earlier, an anti-terrorism court in Peshawar issued arrest warrants for Sohail Afridi, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Kamran Bangash and Irfan Saleem in the May 9, 2023, Radio Pakistan attack case.

Earlier, the PTI reaffirmed its support for Sohail Afridi ruling out any move within the party to consider an alternative candidate and reiterating that only Imran Khan could decide on his replacement.