The Supreme Court on Thursday suspended Peshawar High Court (PHC) judgment on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) government's 'Action (in Aid of Civil Power) Ordinance 2019' which had directed the provincial government to notify all the interment centers as sub-jails. A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa and comprising Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed and Justice Amin-ud-Din, heard an appeal of federation against the PHC verdict.

The bench after hearing the arguments of the parties said that the operation of the PHC judgment will remain suspended till the final decision of the appeal. The Chief Justice said that the larger bench will be constituted to hear the matter and adjourned the hearing till 15th November.

The federation filed the appeal through secretary law and raised 46 questions challenging the PHC judgment. It asked whether the High Court had any justification to rely upon "internet and social media" reports that are nothing but a source of gossip and gibbering done at the behest of anti-state elements in order to weaken the State of Pakistan.

A division bench of PHC comprising Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Musarrat Hilali on October 17 decided the writ petition along with number of other petitions and the applications for contempt of court through a consolidated judgment. The High Court declared that the Action (in Aid of Civil Powers) Ordinance 2019, KP continuation of laws in erstwhile PATA Act 2018, KP continuation of laws in erstwhile FATA Act 2019 and Actions (In Aid of Civil Powers) regulation, 2011 are ultra vires of the Constitution.

The High Court also held that Ordinance V of 2019 is of no lawful authority in view of which home secretary KPK, Civil Secretariat Peshawar, is directed to notify all the interment centers as sub-jails in accordance with law within 24 hours, from the receipt of the judgment and IG Prison KPK is directed to take control of all such jails so declared, within next 3 days.

The PHC further directed to release all the internees who are not charged in any case and a period of 90 days prevention detention has lapsed from the date of the arrest, and all those who have been charged shall be produced before competent court of law duly established in the area, failing which home secretary KPK and the IG prison KPK would be responsible for life and liberty of people interned in the said centers.

It further directed home secretary KPK as well as IG prisons KPK to prepare a list of the internees and shall produce the same in the court/proceeding of missing person cases. All the exercise be completed within 7 days from the receipt of the judgment, said the order.

Different petitions were filed by detainees held at the internment centers, two of the petitions were filed by Advocate Shabbir Hussain Gigyani.

The lawyer Gigyani (Respondent No. 1) has filed writ petition No. 3035-P of 2019 as public interest litigation in which he has challenged the KP continuation of laws in erstwhile PATA Act 2018, KP continuation of laws in erstwhile FATA Act 2019 and Actions (In Aid of Civil Powers) regulation, 2011. When the KP Action (in Aid of Civil Powers) Ordinance 2019 was promulgated by the Governor KPK on 5th August 2019, Gigyani also filed another petition No. 5056-P/2019 in which he challenged the Ordinance V of 2019, which was also clubbed with the earlier writ petitions.

Gigyani said that after the passage of the Constitution (Twenty-Fifth Amendment) Act, 2018 the people of former tribal areas could not be treated differently than those in the rest of the province and the country.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019