FCC Bars PHC From Hearing MPO Detention Cases
The Federal Constitutional Court has barred the Peshawar High Court from hearing cases about the detention of PTI workers under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, in an order that moves the MPO detention cases to the constitutional court. The order came on Thursday, 5 November 2026, from a two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan.
The court took up a set of petitions that challenge interim bails granted by the high court to detained PTI workers and activists. The FCC restrained the Peshawar High Court from hearing the cases while the petitions remain before it.
Dawn reported the order on Thursday afternoon, hours after the bench issued the directive in Islamabad.
What the FCC ordered in the MPO detention cases
The petitions challenge interim bails that the Peshawar High Court granted to detained PTI activists, against surety bonds of Rs100,000 each. The petitions ask the constitutional court to set the bail orders aside.
The Peshawar High Court had granted interim bail in 35 pleas by PTI activists. The case was fixed for hearing on 12 November. That date now falls under the FCC order, which stops the high court from hearing the cases at all.
The high court had issued its interim orders without any report from the provincial government explaining the reasons for the detentions. The absence of that report is now part of the dispute before the FCC. The provincial government had not placed its case on record when the high court granted bail.
Why the MPO detentions reached the courts
The detentions followed the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance gives the administration power to detain people to prevent a breach of public order. Governments have used it for decades to hold political workers during unrest, and courts have often been asked to test whether each detention was lawful.
PTI workers detained under the ordinance turned to the Peshawar High Court, which granted them interim bail. The state then challenged those bail orders before the FCC. The constitutional court has now stepped in and taken the cases out of the high court’s hands while it decides the challenge.
The dispute sits inside a wider contest over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Opposition leaders have met at the residence of JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman to discuss the province, as Feature Pakistan reported in its account of the opposition meeting, and scrutiny of Fazl’s circle has grown, as Feature Pakistan reported in its account of the action against his family and associates.
The FCC’s growing role in court disputes
The FCC is still a new court, and its orders are already shaping how the lower courts work. Feature Pakistan has reported that the FCC said its own observations bind the Supreme Court, a ruling that set out the constitutional court’s place in the judicial hierarchy. The order in the MPO cases is the latest sign that the FCC intends to decide major disputes itself rather than leave them with the high courts. Appeals by Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi in the £190 million case are fixed for hearing on 10 November, as Feature Pakistan reported in its account of the appeal date.
What happens next
The FCC has not yet decided the petitions, so whether the interim bails stand is still open. The court will hear the challenge and decide whether the Peshawar High Court acted correctly in granting bail without the provincial government’s report. The FCC order means the high court cannot move the cases forward on 12 November or any other date until the constitutional court decides.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance?
The Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, known as the MPO, lets the administration detain a person to prevent a breach of public order. The detention can be challenged in the high court.
Why did the FCC stop the Peshawar High Court from hearing the cases?
The FCC took up petitions that challenge interim bails granted by the high court to detained PTI workers. While those petitions are pending, the FCC has restrained the high court from hearing the cases.
What were the Rs100,000 surety bonds?
The Peshawar High Court granted interim bail to the detained PTI activists against surety bonds of Rs100,000 each. A surety bond is a sum pledged as a guarantee that the person will appear before the court when required.
When was the Peshawar High Court due to hear the cases?
The case before the Peshawar High Court was fixed for hearing on 12 November 2026. The FCC order now stops the high court from hearing the cases on that date.
Who headed the FCC bench?
Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan headed the two-judge bench, with Justice Aamer Farooq.
