Staff Reporter
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday stopped police from harassing the PML-N leaders and workers illegally and directed the Punjab Home secretary, IGP and others to submit a report.
As Justice Chaudhry Mushtaq Ahmed passed these orders, the abovementioned government functionaries will present the report on the next hearing which has been fixed for November 24. It was Rafaqat Ali Dogar – the PML-N Lawyers Forum Lahore chapter president – who had moved the court. He was represented by Azam Nazir Tarar, Tahir Nasrullah Warraich and others.
During the hearing, Justice Mushtaq remarked that the government was of the stance that the entire police force had been appointed by the PML-N and they did not work on the government’s directives. To this, Tarar cited Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah who had said that the government functionaries were the state employees. But Justice Mushtaq again remarked that the current police were appointed by the previous government. However, Tarar said that the police were currently registering cases against the PML-N members on a political basis.
The lead defence counsel said the political workers were being harassed to stop political rallies. The citizens of Pakistan enjoyed constitutional and political rights, he added. In his petition, Dogar stated that the PML-N leaders and workers were facing harassment and arrests with an aim to sabotage the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally scheduled to be held next month in Lahore.
Stating that several PML-N members have been detained without any case, the petitioner sought a court order against police harassment and illegal arrests. He also requested that the police should be directed to share the details of cases filed against those affiliated with the main opposition party.
