Peshawar:
Peshawar High Court (PHC) has drawn a temporary relief awarded to Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI) leaders Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz and Abdul Latif in their disqualification cases and declared that no refugees can claim constitutional rights until they surrender from the competition.
In a detailed judgment of 31 pages written by Justice Syed Arshad Ali and advertised by a two-member bench consisting of Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Faheem Wali, the court categorically believed that individuals convicted by court courts cannot circumvent the legal process and seek exemption directly from the highest.
The petitions had challenged the disqualification messages issued against the three PTI leaders in accordance with their conviction of courts against terrorism (ATCs). Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz were sentenced on July 31 by ATC Faisalabad, while Abdul Latif was convicted in May by an ATC in Islamabad.
During the consultations, the Council’s Council claimed, Barmister Gohar Khan, who represents Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz, and spokesman for Moazzam ass, who represented Abdul Latif that their clients were not absent as they had appeared before the relevant forums in previous procedures. They claimed that their clients under constitutional and international principles were entitled to fundamental rights, including the right to appeal.
Barrister Gohar also claimed that the petitioners deprived their constitutional protection of refusing citizens’ access to justice. He emphasized that the PTI leaders were present before PHC and therefore could not be considered refugees in the strict sense of the law.
On the other hand, the complainant’s lawyer’s lawyer Barrister Sajeel Swati insisted that the petries were refugees as they had not handed over to the court court in their beliefs. He maintained that circumvention of the appeal procedure and directly approaching PHC made their petitions into non-maintenance.
The Federal Government’s representatives, additional attorney General Aamir Rehman and Sanaullah, reiterated this attitude and claimed that the petitions were not allowed unless the petries first surrendered. With reference to both domestic and international case law, the Court emphasized that refugees cannot get relief from overall courts. It emphasized that constitutional courts cannot be reduced to forums for circumvention of established legal hierarchies.
The court gave up that until the Petries surrendered to the Court of Justice and submit appeals through the prescribed procedure, their petitions before PHC would remain ineffective. Accordingly, the bench withdrew recurring orders issued on August 1, 6 and 12 and postponed the case indefinitely and gave the petries the opportunity to revive their cases when they surrender and comply with proper process.
The order delivers a large legal battle for PTI’s leadership as three of its prominent numbers remain disqualified. It also sets a significant precedent, which confirms that constitutional protection cannot be invoked as a shield of those considered refugees until they respect the legal process.
