The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Thursday restrained the Peshawar High Court (PHC) from hearing cases and petitions that challenge arrests under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The stay came on an appeal by the provincial government against earlier PHC directions that had stopped the administration from using that power.
A two-member bench headed by FCC Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan heard the matter. After the stay, the high court’s instructions limiting arrests under Section 3-MPO remain suspended for the time being. The FCC also suspended the challenged orders passed by different PHC benches, issued notices to the parties concerned, and adjourned further proceedings indefinitely, with the next date to be fixed later.
What Section 3-MPO allows
Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance lets the authorities arrest or detain someone as a preventive step to keep public order or avert a possible threat to peace. The person does not have to be convicted of an offence for that kind of detention. The PHC had earlier barred the KP administration from making such arrests. It had also ordered the release of 28 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers held in various districts of the province. The KP government then took several of those high-court orders to the FCC.
Arguments before the FCC
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general told the bench that the high court could not interfere in areas where the military was conducting operations under Article 245 of the Constitution, which covers the armed forces acting in aid of civil power. He also argued that the high court could not use its writ jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution in these matters.
Justice Aamir Farooq, sitting on the bench, questioned that line of reasoning. He asked whether the high court would also be stopped from hearing the many Article 199 cases that come before it every day.
Counsel Shah Faisal Ilyas, appearing for the other parties, asked the court to hear his side in detail before granting a stay. He said none of the provincial government’s three objections was legally sustainable. Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan told counsel to study the detailed court order and file legal objections and responses. The bench said other parties could also move applications after reviewing the order.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- Earlier: The Peshawar High Court restrained KP authorities from arrests under Section 3-MPO and ordered the release of 28 PTI workers detained in various districts.
- Later: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government challenged several of those PHC orders at the Federal Constitutional Court.
- Thursday: An FCC bench led by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan restrained the PHC from hearing 3-MPO arrest cases, suspended the challenged PHC orders, issued notices to the parties, and adjourned the matter indefinitely.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Federal Constitutional Court ne Peshawar High Court ko rok diya hai ke woh Section 3-MPO ke under arrest wale cases na sunay. Pehle high court ne KP hukumat ko aise preventive arrests se mana kiya tha aur 28 PTI workers ki rihaai ka hukm diya tha. Ab woh PHC ke hukm filhaal latke hue hain, is liye aise arrests par pehle jaisi rok ab apply nahi hoti jab tak FCC agla faisla na de. Aam logon ke liye yeh legal case hai: preventive detention ke rules abhi high court ke pehle order se band nahi rahenge.
