IHC dismisses petition seeking ban on Fazl, JUI-F – Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) obtained a respite on Wednesday, as the High Court of Islamabad not only granted bail to its leader Akram Khan Durrani until November 4, but also dismissed a petition To ban the party.

Durrani faces three investigations by the National Office of Responsibility and, according to his request for bail prior to arrest, NAB pursues him because he is the main organizer of the "March of Azadi" of JUI-F scheduled for October 27 .

The bail order allowed the JUI-F leader to make arrangements for the march.

NAB is investigating Mr. Durrani in connection with the alleged corruption in two housing projects of the Federal Government Housing Foundation, the appointment of blue-eyed officers in the Pakistan Housing Authority Foundation and the Department of Public Works of Pakistan and the allocation of "out of turn" plots for mosques

A bank of the IHC division composed of the President of the Supreme Court Athar Minallah and Judge Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb initially allowed the provisional bond prior to Mr. Durrani's arrest against Rs500,000 bonds.

The same bank also granted a provisional bond to Durrani's son, Zahid, son-in-law Irfan Ullah and former personal secretary Mohammad Tahir.

Party leader Akram Durrani granted bail in NAB consultations

After the court proceedings, Durrani told reporters that the Rehbar Committee, composed of representatives of the main opposition parties, had asked the government to grant them permission to keep "Azadi March" if it was serious in the negotiations.

The government responded by allowing the JUI-F to hold protests within the parameters defined by the higher courts.

The JUI-F leader said that the government movement to hold individual meetings with key opposition leaders will not succeed since the Rehbar Committee had already decided that, instead of individual meetings, the government should contact the committee.

Durrani said he did not contact any government official, but in fact the president of the National Assembly, Asad Qaiser, the president of the Senate, Sadiq Sanjrani, and the defense minister, Pervaiz Khattak, contacted him by phone.

“Why should I call? I am not in panic; It is the government that is eager to speak, ”he said.

He said that people were now fed up with Pakistan's Tehreek-i-Insaf government, since they had not been able to provide any relief to the common man.

He said doctors, engineers, merchants, lawyers and other professionals had gone on strike against hostile government policies.

Also on Wednesday, the president of the Supreme Court, Athar Minallah, dismissed a petition to ban JUI-F and his boss Maulana Fazlur Rehman for passing derogatory comments against the army.

Judge Minallah called the request "frivolous" and said the government should encourage criticism, as it was vital to the accountability of powerful segments of society.

The court noted that "the free exchange of ideas and information is the premise on which the democratic structure is established and sustained." However, he added that "this right is not absolute and is subject to reasonable restrictions. The guidelines for imposing reasonable restrictions have been provided in Article 19 of the Constitution."

The court noted that the petitioner did not attach any documents in support of the claim that was vague in nature.

Judge Minallah commented that the court did not expect a political leader to make any irresponsible statement that amounted to scandalizing an institution or discrediting it.

The court noted that the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority had powers and jurisdiction to take appropriate measures in accordance with the law against the violation of reasonable restrictions imposed by law and highlighted in Article 19 of the Constitution.

"This petition in its current form is definitely frivolous and, therefore, is dismissed," the court said.

Posted on Dawn, October 24, 2019