LHC orders release of 123 PTI detainees

LAHORE (Agencies): Announcing its decision in response to a plea of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Farrukh Habib on Saturday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) has suspended detention orders of as many as 123 party workers from Faisalabad under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) with directives to their immediate release.

Former minister of state for information and broadcasting Farrukh Habib has invoked jurisdiction of the LHC and challenged legality of dentition of PTI’s leaders and workers in Faisalabad under MPO. He prayed the court to release the detainees under MPO in his city Faisalabad and requested the court to suspend the executive orders in the matter.

After hearing arguments of both the sides in the case, a single-member bench of the LHC comprising Justice Anwarul Haq Pannu issued suspension orders of detention of party workers who were arrested in result of a crackdown against involved to quell the law and order situation that resulted after the arrest of party chief Imran Khan on May 09.

Earlier, the Peshawar High Court suspended the orders of authorities to detain around 150 leaders and workers of the PTI in the province under the MPO. A bench consisting of Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah declared that the petitioners, who had been kept in different prisons, should be freed if they’re not required in any other cases and that each of them should produce two surety bonds each of Rs200,000 for their release before the concerned deputy commissioner.

It is pertinent to mention that violent clashes broke out across Pakistan after the former prime minister and PTI chairman Imran Khan was arrested from the premises of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on May 9. The protests were held in remote and major cities as the party workers agitated due to their chairman’s arrest, with Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad summoning the armed forces to ensure law and order.