- Verdict says PTI, allies’ blockade of NATO supplies illegal and unconstitutional
- Says govt should safeguard right of freedom to movement and other human rights
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday declared the blockade of NATO supply routes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its allies as illegal and unconstitutional.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Malik Manzoor Hussain gave the ruling on a petition filed by Haji Lal Muhammad, a trader exporting various items to Afghanistan, through his lawyer Shah Nawaz Khan under Article 199 of the Constitution of Pakistan, challenging the blocking of NATO supply lines. The petitioner said that blockade of the supply routes for the last 95 days was illegal and had caused massive financial losses to the local traders.
In its verdict, the PHC said that the blockade by supporters of a political party was illegal and the government should safeguard the right of freedom of movement along with other human rights.
The court further said in its verdict that the forcible stopping of trucks carrying NATO equipment was also illegal.
The PTI had imposed the blockade across the province on November 23 in protest against the US drone strike in Hangu on Nov 21, 2013 in which six people, including members of the feared Haqqani Network were killed and eight others were wounded. The PTI and its close allies, the Jamaat-e-Islami and Awami Jamhoori Ittehad had then set up camps at five points in four districts of the province to stop the NATO supplies.
PTI TO REVIEW ORDER ON 27th:
Commenting on the PHC order, PTI Secretary Information Shireen Mazari said her party’s core committee would review the matter on February 27.
“PTI respects the law and higher judiciary unlike the present and previous governments who have yet to implement the PHC judgement against drones in which the government was asked to block NATO supplies and even shoot down a drone if the US did not stop these drone attacks. PTI’s blockade of NATO supplies was in keeping with this judgement,” Mazari said in a statement.