TTAP Seeks Judicial Review of K-P Emergency
The opposition alliance Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Ain Pakistan (TTAP) has demanded a judicial review of the K-P emergency and governor’s rule, saying the courts must test whether the measures were constitutional.
The demand came in a joint declaration issued on Monday after a consultation on the country’s prevailing “political and constitutional” situation. TTAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Senate Leader of the Opposition Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and PTI leader Asad Qaiser issued the declaration together.
Achakzai is also the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly. The alliance said the supremacy of the Constitution, provincial autonomy and parliamentary democracy must be safeguarded, and that the style of governance used in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa must be examined openly by the judiciary.
How the K-P emergency reached the courts
Emergency and governor’s rule came on October 11, during a PTI long march, and a number of PTI leaders and workers were detained under the Maintenance of Public Order ordinance (3-MPO), among them Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.
Earlier, the Peshawar High Court had granted bail to 23 PTI workers held under the ordinance and asked the governor and the provincial assembly speaker to respond over the governor’s rule.
The legal path then narrowed. On November 5, the Federal Constitutional Court barred the Peshawar High Court from hearing 3-MPO detention cases. On November 7, the high court removed all petitions challenging the emergency, the governor’s rule and the 3-MPO detentions from its cause list. It acted after a Federal Constitutional Court ruling stripped it of jurisdiction over cases filed after October 11.
The alliance now wants the higher judiciary to review the emergency itself. It maintained that such governance styles must be examined transparently so the courts can decide their constitutional validity.
What else the declaration demanded
The declaration also praised JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman for his position on constitutional questions, and said going after the dignity and honour of political leaders or their families over political differences went against democratic traditions.
TTAP also wants the full medical examination reports of jailed PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, published without delay, and the Supreme Court’s August 18 order moving Imran Khan to Shifa International Hospital carried out at once.
“Imran Khan’s treatment should be ensured in the presence of his personal physicians,” the joint declaration said.
The demand connects with the appeals now before the courts, where Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi are challenging their convictions in the £190 million case. The party’s parliamentary leadership has already raised Imran Khan’s health and jail conditions before the courts.
The declaration also condemned what it called the state’s use of force against unarmed civilians in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, calling the reported deaths and the suppression of public demands unacceptable, and urged immediate talks with protesters to calm the unrest and end the violence. The alliance condemned the use of force in AJK in a separate statement reported by Feature Pakistan.
The Express Tribune reported the declaration in full. The alliance has tied its engagement with the government to access for Imran Khan. It suspended talks last month until he was allowed to meet his family and doctors. The judicial review demand adds a legal track to that political standoff, but the courts have yet to say whether they will take it up.
Frequently asked questions
What is the TTAP demanding?
The opposition alliance wants a judicial review of the emergency and governor’s rule imposed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on October 11, along with the 3-MPO detentions that followed.
Why did the Peshawar High Court stop hearing the cases?
On November 5, the Federal Constitutional Court barred the high court from hearing 3-MPO detention cases. On November 7, the high court removed the petitions from its cause list after a ruling stripped it of jurisdiction over cases filed after October 11.
Who issued the declaration?
TTAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Senate opposition leader Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and PTI leader Asad Qaiser issued the joint declaration on Monday after a consultation on the political and constitutional situation.
What did the alliance say about Imran Khan’s health?
It demanded that complete medical examination reports of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi be made public without delay, and that the Supreme Court’s August 18 decision to transfer Imran Khan to Shifa International Hospital be implemented at once.
