K-P deputy commissioners granted three-month MPO detention powers
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi has delegated powers of preventive arrest and detention under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance to all deputy commissioners across the province. The MPO detention powers allow any person to be placed under preventive detention for up to three months.
The provincial Home Department announced the move in an official notification. Acting on the Governor’s directive, the government transferred authority under Section 3(1) of the West Pakistan Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960, to every deputy commissioner in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, with immediate effect.
Previously, these special powers rested exclusively with the Additional Chief Secretary (Home). The decision to decentralise them follows concerns over the prevailing law-and-order situation and is intended to enable faster, more effective preventive measures at the district level.
Faster action, but with a warning
Governor Kundi said the step would reduce administrative delays and strengthen coordination between district administrations and law-enforcement agencies. “These powers have been delegated so that timely and effective preventive action can be taken on the ground,” he stated.
He stressed that the authority must be exercised strictly in accordance with the Constitution and the law. “I expect every Deputy Commissioner to act responsibly and work in close cooperation with law-enforcement agencies,” the Governor added. “Under no circumstances should these powers be misused.”
Officials noted that the move places greater operational responsibility on district heads while retaining the requirement for accountability and legal compliance.
The MPO detention powers face a legal shadow
The notification lands in complicated legal territory. In May 2023, the Peshawar High Court declared deputy commissioners’ orders to arrest those accused of involvement in the May 9 protests under 3 MPO as null and void.
The law had been challenged through a writ petition filed by Advocate Naeem Ahmed Khattak through Advocate Ali Azim Afridi. The petition argued the law was unconstitutional: any citizen could be arrested without being given a reason, and administrative officers held the combined powers to issue, execute and try warrants — a fusion the petitioners said violated the separation of the administration from the judiciary, a principle the Supreme Court has upheld on various occasions.
The then K-P advocate general, Amir Javid, had objected to the petitions’ admissibility, arguing they could not be heard because the provincial cabinet had imposed an emergency in the province.
That history gives the new notification an obvious tension: the Governor is restoring to deputy commissioners the very power the High Court struck down three years ago. Any fresh use of 3 MPO is likely to be tested in court again.
Law-and-order backdrop
The move comes amid a sharp deterioration in the province’s security situation. Four police personnel, including a CTD DSP, were martyred in an exchange of fire in Karak this week, while security forces foiled an attack on a construction camp in Gwadar. The CTD has also registered a terrorism case over the abduction of 17 K-P workers, and an ATC indicted the accused in a PAF officer’s case — all signs of the pressure the province’s law-enforcement machinery is under.
The delegation also unfolds against the continuing political standoff in the province (PTI’s internal fissures have deepened even as talks are discussed), which makes the concentration of detention powers at the district level politically sensitive as well as legally contested.
Sources: Tribune reported the MPO notification.
FAQ
What powers have K-P deputy commissioners been given?
Preventive arrest and detention powers under Section 3(1) of the West Pakistan MPO Ordinance, 1960 — allowing detention of any person for up to three months without trial.
Who delegated the powers?
K-P Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, through a Home Department notification with immediate effect. The powers previously rested only with the Additional Chief Secretary (Home).
Didn’t the Peshawar High Court strike this down?
In May 2023, the PHC declared deputy commissioners’ 3-MPO arrest orders in the May 9 cases null and void. The new notification restores the same power, and is likely to face fresh legal challenge.
