Lawyers observed a province-wide strike across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday, boycotting court proceedings at the Peshawar High Court and its benches in other cities, Dawn reported. The strike was called by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council to protest a Federal Constitutional Court decision suspending the high court’s powers under Article 199 of the Constitution.
The Federal Constitutional Court issued an order on November 5 barring the Peshawar High Court from hearing petitions filed on or after October 12, citing the deployment of the armed forces in the province under Article 245. Following that order, the Peshawar High Court’s administrative committee decided to remove those petitions from its cause list and return fresh filings to petitioners.
The suspension halts judicial scrutiny of extraordinary measures taken in the province, including petitions challenging the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule, according to The Express Tribune. Those measures followed an October 11 proclamation by President Asif Ali Zardari under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution.
The removed cases include petitions seeking the recovery of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Provincial Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, and PTI provincial president Junaid Akbar, The Express Tribune reported. Other affected filings include pleas from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, National Assembly Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai, and National Democratic Movement Chairman Mohsin Dawar.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council held an emergency general body meeting chaired by Vice-Chairman Mohammad Rafiq on November 7, where participants resolved to launch an indefinite strike if constitutional powers are not restored by November 16, Dawn reported. The bar council stated that the Federal Constitutional Court’s decision usurped basic rights in the province and constituted a grave injustice to its residents.
A separate meeting of bar association representatives at the Peshawar High Court premises, led by Bar Association President Aminur Rahman, decided that leadership will contact stakeholders to push for jurisdiction restoration before the November 16 deadline, according to Dawn. Participants also agreed to convene an All Pakistan Lawyers Convention and file an application to become a party in pending Federal Constitutional Court cases.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan announced that his party will approach the Federal Constitutional Court to seek the withdrawal of its stay order, stating that the ruling has created severe legal complications for ordinary citizens and political figures alike, The Nation reported. Barring the high court from hearing cases concerning arrests made under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance improperly removed matters from the cause list on administrative grounds, according to the PTI chairman.
The Federal Constitutional Court bench, comprising Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, noted in a four-page written order that the Peshawar High Court granted final relief at an interim stage in disregard of Article 245, Voicepk.net reported. The Advocate General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa argued before the bench that the high court ignored express constitutional mandates regarding military deployments in aid of civil power.
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