PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday issued a notice to the attorney general on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) petitions challenging governor’s rule and the imposition of an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Faheem Wali presided over the hearing on petitions filed by PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan and Advocate Salman Khan, asking the court to declare the measures unconstitutional and set them aside.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led federal government imposed a governor’s role and emergency in KP, ruled by the Imran Khan-founded party since 2013, on October 11.

The federal government cited rising terrorism incidents and the provincial government’s lack of support for counterterrorism operations as the reasons for the move.

KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi took charge of running the province on behalf of the federal government, assisted by an 11-member technocratic KP Advisory Council.

The PTI chairman and Advocate Salman Khan later filed separate petitions against the measures at the PHC, asking the court to declare the measures unconstitutional and set them aside.

During today’s hearing, the PTI chief said that governor’s rule and the emergency had been imposed on the same day, alongside the formation of an advisory council and the transfer of 38 deputy commissioners.

The PTI chairman further alleged that 12 of the party’s members of the National Assembly and 13 members of the provincial assembly had been abducted.

“Our offices have been demolished, and plaques marking the inauguration of development projects have been broken,” he said, alleging that his party was being treated differently from others.

Prior to Barrister Gohar, the petitioners’ counsel argued that an emergency could be imposed in the event of war or external interference.

“There is neither war nor external aggression here,” the lawyer told the court.

The counsel argued that the provincial government had the authority to take measures to tackle terrorism, saying terrorism had reached its peak in the past, but an emergency was not imposed then.

The lawyer further contended that Article 234 of the Constitution could be invoked only when a provincial government ceased to function.

The counsel maintained that the provincial assembly and government had continued functioning and that there had been no breakdown of the Constitution.

After hearing the arguments, Justice Anwar said the court would issue a notice to the Attorney General’s Office and seek its response.

The court subsequently issued the notice and adjourned the hearing until 10 November.

Response sought on Afridi’s detention
Separately, the court sought responses from the government and relevant authorities on petitions seeking the recovery of now-dysfunctional KP chief minister Sohail Afridi, Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati and PTI provincial president Junaid Akbar.

During a hearing on a petition filed for the recovery of Afridi, Justice Arshad Ali issued notices to the provincial government, police and relevant officials, directing them to submit their response within two days.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Arshad Ali and Justice Farah Jamshed heard the petitions regarding the recovery of Swati and Akbar.

The court issued notices to the government, the KP inspector general of police and other relevant authorities, seeking their responses to the petitions within 10 days.