PHC to hear challenge to K-P emergency and governor’s rule on October 20
PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has listed for hearing the petitions challenging the federal government’s October 11 decision to impose emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The PHC emergency hearing, set for October 20, will be the first judicial test of the presidential proclamation that removed the elected provincial government. Two separate sets of petitioners have approached the court, and both want the October 11 measures declared unconstitutional.
The PTI chairman’s petition
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan approached the PHC on October 14, challenging the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule and seeking the annulment of the presidential proclamation issued on October 11. He filed through Advocate Ali Zaman.
Gohar termed the measures unconstitutional and discriminatory, arguing that terrorism cannot be used as a pretext to curtail the powers of an elected provincial government. He contended that terrorism had affected different parts of the country in the past without elected provincial governments being removed on that basis.
He cited the security situation in Balochistan, where terrorist attacks and casualties have been continually reported, arguing that governor’s rule had not been imposed there despite serious law and order challenges. He also referred to the period between 2007 and 2015, when K-P and the former tribal areas experienced a severe wave of militancy with heavy civilian and security casualties, yet no governor’s rule was imposed.
The petition argued that the party had won a two-thirds majority in the province and that the federal government could not curtail the powers of an elected government because of political differences. It also questioned the use of the failure of negotiations as a justification, maintaining that the party had not planned any unlawful activity during its long march and that peaceful political protest could not by itself justify suspending an elected government.
Invoking Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution, the petition asked the court to examine whether the requirements for imposing an emergency and invoking governor’s rule had been met. Article 232 deals with emergency powers in specified circumstances, while Article 234 provides a mechanism for a presidential proclamation where a provincial government cannot be carried on in accordance with the Constitution.
The NDM’s separate challenge
Separately, National Democratic Movement President Mohsin Dawar and Bushra Gohar filed a constitutional petition through Advocate Yousaf Orakzai, challenging the October 11 presidential proclamation as unlawful, unconstitutional and beyond the president’s authority.
The NDM leaders asked the high court to declare the proclamation unlawful and set it aside. They have also sought interim relief suspending its implementation until the petition is finally decided.
The October 20 listing means the court will hear both the PTI chairman’s petition and the NDM’s plea together, alongside the separate petition filed by the opposition alliance TTAP, which we reported earlier. TTAP’s petition also seeks the annulment of the proclamation and the executive orders and notifications issued under it.
PHC emergency hearing: what to watch on October 20
The hearing comes amid a fast-moving political and legal standoff. K-P lawyers observed a black day and boycotted courts over the emergency, while PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah said direct rule could be reversed if the PTI backed the counterterrorism effort.
The central question for the court will be whether the constitutional thresholds in Articles 232 and 234 were actually met, or whether the proclamation was driven by the political standoff around the PTI’s long march. The petitioners argue the latter; the federal government has defended the measures as a counterterrorism necessity. The PHC has been active on related fronts this week, having barred agencies from acting against the former advocate general till October 20.
The original reporting on this development was published by The Express Tribune.
FAQ
When will the PHC hear the emergency challenge?
The Peshawar High Court will take up the petitions challenging the K-P emergency and governor’s rule on October 20.
Who has challenged the October 11 proclamation?
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan filed on October 14, NDM leaders Mohsin Dawar and Bushra Gohar filed separately, and the opposition alliance TTAP has filed its own petition. All seek the annulment of the presidential proclamation.
What are the petitioners arguing?
They argue the emergency and governor’s rule are unconstitutional and discriminatory, that terrorism cannot justify removing an elected government, and that the requirements of Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution were not met.
