Shehryar Khan, Aleema Khan's son, had asked the Lahore High Court to take up detention orders concerning his mother and driver Muhammad Ameer. On Friday, Justice Abher Gul Khan disposed of the petition. He did so after expressing satisfaction with a report the Punjab Home Department placed before the court, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported from Lahore on October 9.
Aleema Khan is the sister of the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). The deputy commissioner and other relevant authorities were named as respondents.
What the department told the court
A provincial law officer submitted a report for the Punjab Home Department during the hearing. He told the judge that representations over the petitioners' grievances had already been filed with the department. A representation, in this setting, is a written request asking an authority to reconsider a grievance. He also said the appellate authority, the body that hears an appeal, would rule on those representations under the law.
Justice Abher Gul Khan expressed satisfaction with the report, and the petition was disposed of. APP did not report any order cancelling the detention or directing the release of Aleema Khan or Muhammad Ameer.
The two people named in the plea
The orders under challenge concerned Aleema Khan and Muhammad Ameer, identified as her driver. Shehryar Khan brought the case for his mother and the driver. APP did not quote the orders, give the date they were issued, or state the grounds for the detention.
In the account from APP, the Lahore High Court is not described as having ruled the detention lawful or unlawful. The hearing, as reported, dealt with representations that had already been filed with the Punjab Home Department.
Where the matter goes next
The only next step described to the judge was a decision by the appellate authority under the law. APP gave no date for that decision and did not mention another hearing before Justice Abher Gul Khan.
Disposing of the petition means it is no longer pending at the Lahore High Court. On APP's report, that closure does not itself show whether Aleema Khan and Muhammad Ameer are still detained. The question sits with the appellate authority the department said would apply the law.
