ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) on Thursday restrained the Peshawar High Court (PHC) from hearing cases concerning arrests under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The high court had earlier barred the authorities from making arrests under the provision and ordered the release of 28 workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who had been detained in different districts of the province. The provincial government challenged several of those orders before the constitutional court.
A two-member bench headed by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan heard the matter. During the hearing, the provincial government objected to the high court’s jurisdiction over the cases.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general argued that the high court could not intervene in areas where the military was carrying out operations under Article 245 of the Constitution, and that it could not exercise its jurisdiction under Article 199 in such matters.
Justice Aamer Farooq observed that the high court received cases under Article 199 every day. “Would the high court not hear cases that come before it on a daily basis?” he asked.
Former additional advocate general Shah Faisal Ilyas, appearing for the parties, asked the court to hear them before passing any interim injunction, and argued that the provincial government’s three objections could not be sustained. Chief Justice Khan said the parties could file their objections after examining the court’s order.
The constitutional court suspended the orders challenged by the provincial government, which had been passed by different benches of the high court, and said notices were being issued to the parties. It then adjourned further proceedings indefinitely.
The order is an interim restraint, not a final decision on whether the detentions were lawful or on the limits of the high court’s jurisdiction. Those questions remain open, and no date has been fixed for the next hearing.
