PTI Moves FCC Seeking Sohail Afridi Release
PTI lawmaker Shandana Gulzar has approached the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), seeking the immediate release of Sohail Afridi and other detained party leaders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dawn reported.
Gulzar, a member of the National Assembly, filed the petition on Thursday. It asks the court to order the release of Afridi, provincial assembly speaker Babar Saleem Swati, PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president Junaid Akbar and other party workers detained after the Centre imposed governor’s rule and emergency in the province.
Sohail Afridi has not been seen since October 11
Afridi has not been seen since the Centre imposed governor’s rule and emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on October 11. The next day, a federal minister confirmed that he and some of his cabinet members were in preventive custody. The government has transferred powers to KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, while the PTI has asserted that Afridi remains and shall continue to serve as the KP chief minister, with the confidence and support of party founder and former prime minister Imran Khan.
The petition asks the FCC to order the respondents to disclose the whereabouts of the detained leaders, the authority exercising custody, the legal instrument and provisions invoked, and the grounds and date of their detention. It also asks the court to order the detained leaders produced in person, so their condition and legal status can be checked.
What the petition asks the court to declare
Gulzar has asked the FCC to declare that Articles 232, 234 and 245 of the Constitution do not confer any authority to arrest, detain, confine or conceal the whereabouts of any person in disregard of the Constitution and applicable law. The petition argues that such exercise of state power remains subject to constitutional safeguards and judicial review, and that executive authority under Article 234 or a deployment under Article 245 cannot lawfully sidestep the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 4, 9, 10, 14, 17, 19 and 19-A.
The petition also asks for access to lawyers and family for the detained leaders, medical examination and treatment, and protection against torture or degrading treatment. It further asks the court to declare that any action driven by political considerations would amount to abuse of public authority.
The courts so far
The case has already travelled through the Peshawar High Court. On October 13, Afridi’s brother, Muhammad Amir, approached the high court to trace his whereabouts and seek an investigation into his alleged illegal detention and abduction from the Chief Minister House on October 11. The petition claimed he was taken away by unidentified armed and masked individuals in the presence of the capital city police officer.
The high court on November 3 referred the plea, including those against the alleged abduction of Swati and Akbar, to the chief justice for the formation of a larger bench. On October 31, it granted interim bail to scores of PTI activists detained under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance after the imposition of emergency.
The FCC, however, restrained the high court on November 5 from hearing the detention cases. The high court then removed around 105 petitions from its November 10 cause lists, including challenges to the emergency and governor’s rule and to the alleged detention of Afridi, Swati and Akbar.
Gohar Khan also moves the FCC
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan also approached the FCC on Thursday, seeking impleadment in the case about the high court being restrained from hearing the detention cases. He was a petitioner before the high court challenging governor’s rule and the emergency proclamation, and asked to intervene so he could present his arguments. The application also asked the FCC to modify its November 5 order, so the high court petitions should not remain suspended.
The petition names the federal secretaries of interior and defence, the KP chief secretary and home secretary, the provincial police chief, the Peshawar deputy commissioner and the Federal Investigation Agency director general among the respondents.
Why it matters
The petition puts the FCC at the centre of the most serious constitutional dispute in the country: whether emergency powers can be used to detain an elected chief minister and keep his whereabouts undisclosed for a month. The Peshawar High Court had earlier sought replies from the governor and the speaker in related proceedings, and the Peshawar anti-terrorism court reissued arrest warrants for Afridi in a separate case. Afridi also faces a separate corruption probe, with evidence presented against him in October.
Frequently asked questions
Who filed the petition for Sohail Afridi’s release?
PTI MNA Shandana Gulzar filed it in the Federal Constitutional Court on Thursday, seeking the immediate release of Sohail Afridi, Babar Saleem Swati, Junaid Akbar and other detained party workers.
Why has Sohail Afridi not been seen since October 11?
He has not been seen since the Centre imposed governor’s rule and emergency in the province on October 11. A federal minister confirmed the next day that he was in preventive custody.
What did the FCC do on November 5?
It restrained the Peshawar High Court from hearing the detention cases. The high court then removed around 105 petitions from its November 10 cause lists.
