The federal government is fully prepared to deal with any situation arising out of Nov-2'lockdown' of Islamabad planned by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. The Lahore High Court was told in a petition against the PTI's Islamabad lockdown call. The court adjourned the proceedings of the petition as PTI's counsel Ahmad Awais did not appear before the court. Earlier, law officer Naseer Ahmad Bhutta said the government would not allow any hooliganism in Islamabad.
He said locking down a city was a cognisable offence and the government could exercise relevant laws if deemed necessary. In a dialogue with the law officer, the court regretted that the government had failed to establish its writ during 2014 protest/sit-in by the PTI. The government could not control the situation during crucial hours, the court observed. On this, Bhutta said that cases were registered against the protestors involved in attacking the government buildings including parliament house and PTV.
Earlier, petitioner's counsel AK Dogar emphasised that state and the government are synonyms but Imran Khan has been involved in inciting people against the lawfully-elected government. He said the state must establish its writ and any 'unconstitutional' protest by the political party should not be permitted. Responding to a court's query, Dogar conceded that had the government responded to the demands of the opposition the Nov-2-like situation would have not emerged.
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