Opposition leaders petition Federal Constitutional Court over detained lawmakers
Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Raja Nasir Abbas want KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and eight other parliamentarians freed, arguing governor's rule does not suspend fundamental rights.
National Assembly Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Senate Opposition Leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas filed a joint petition before the Federal Constitutional Court on Saturday, seeking the immediate release of PTI lawmakers detained after the federal government imposed governor's rule and emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Daily Times reported that the petition names Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and eight other parliamentarians among those held.
The PTI-backed chief minister and the other lawmakers were taken into preventive custody hours before the imposition on October 11, according to Daily Times.
The petition asks whether state institutions can stop elected representatives from carrying out political activity and from taking part in parliamentary and legislative work. Holding elected representatives in custody undermines the mandate of the people, the petitioners argue.
"Targeting them on the basis of political affiliation violates Articles 4, 14, 17 and 25 of the Constitution," the petition states, as reported by Daily Times.
The plea asks the government to disclose the lawmakers' "legal status and place of detention". It argues that the extraordinary powers available under Articles 232, 234 and 245 do not override fundamental rights, and that governor's rule neither ends those rights nor removes government actions from the court's review.
According to the petition, jailed PTI founder Imran Khan had tasked Achakzai and Raja Nasir Abbas with holding talks with the government. The petitioners say the state machinery cannot be used to suppress political dissent or to neutralise elected representatives.
They have asked the court to summon all the affected lawmakers, to examine the legal justification for their detention and to order the release of every detained elected representative.
Separately, Raja Nasir Abbas told Geo News that they had approached the Peshawar court asking it to disclose the whereabouts of KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and provincial assembly speaker Babar Saleem Swati.
"The only way to save the sinking boat is dialogue and implementation of the Constitution," he said. "Even now, political parties will have to sit together and decide. The only way forward is for everyone to think together about getting out of these problems."
How the reports differ
Daily Times named Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and put the number of other detained parliamentarians at eight, details the Express Tribune's report did not carry. Daily Times also dated the governor's rule and emergency to October 11, listed the constitutional articles the petition cites and reported a separate move in the Peshawar court, while the Express Tribune's account was limited to the filing and the argument at its centre. Only Daily Times quoted Raja Nasir Abbas, who spoke to Geo News.
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