SHC dismisses petition against detention of several PTI leaders, workers under MPO

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed against detention of several leaders and workers of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed rejected the petition for not being maintainable.

Petitioner Abdul Jalil Marwat moved the SHC last month, stating that he was a worker of the PTI and after May 9 incidents, over 260 leaders and workers of the party had been detained by the provincial authorities under the MPO for 30 days.

He submitted that the authorities had kept them in different prisons of Sindh and pleaded for their release.

Review Committee orders release of four more opposition activists

The SHC had earlier expressed doubt about the maintainability of the petition, but issued notices to respondents as the matter was pertaining to the liberty and detentions for today.

At the outset of hearing on Tuesday, the bench again asked the petitioner to satisfy the court about the maintainability of his petition.

However, when he failed to satisfy the court, the bench remarked that it could not proceed further with the matter as the petitioner was not an aggrieved person.

The court dismissed the petition as not maintainable.

The petitioner had stated that the arrests and detentions under MPO were not explained and no opportunity of free and fair representation was provided to the detainees.

He maintained that the Sindh government had imposed Section 144 of the criminal procedure code in the city, but on the other hand the Pakistan Peoples Party held a procession on May 13 and blocked M.A. Jinnah Road in violation of such a ban.

Earlier, the SHC was informed that the provincial authorities had constituted a committee to consider the representations to review/de-notify the detention orders issued under the MPO.

Release of four more PTI detainees ordered

A four-member review committee on Tuesday withdrew detention orders of four more workers of the PTI and ordered their release.

The committee, headed by Home Secretary Syed Ijaz Ali Shah, issued orders for the release of Nawaz Azad, Ramzan Kalam, Hamza Khalid and Maqsood Saleem after reviewing their applications.

It directed the superintendents of Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Shikarpur jails to release the four persons if their custody was not required in any other case.

Earlier, the committee had also withdrawn detention orders of 14 persons and ordered their release, it added.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2023