ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday directed the Islamabad district administration to take all necessary steps to maintain law and order, as it heard a petition seeking a restraint order against the ‘Azadi March’ sit-in announced by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) on Oct 31.
The anti-government march was earlier scheduled to take place on Oct 27, but on Wednesday JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman announced that the rallies were being postponed to Oct 31 to show solidarity with the Kashmiri people.
A single IHC bench comprising Chief Justice Athar Minallah said that permission for the sit-in will not be granted until the party formally approaches the district administration in this regard.
The court granted permission to the PTI as per the law when the party held sit-in (in 2014), the bench further remarked.
Petitioner Hafiz Ahtisham, while pleading his case in person, requested the court to prohibit Fazlur Rehman from his announced ‘Azadi March’ and the sit-in.
The petitioner said that the Supreme Court and the Islamabad High Court earlier ordered that a protest and sit-in should be restricted to a fixed place to avoid any disruption in routine life.
The petitioner made Interior Secretary, Secretary Education, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Deputy Commissioner Islamabad and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) a party in the case.
The bench told the petitioner that his plea was premature.
The petitioner pleaded the bench for permission to appoint a lawyer for pleading his case.
The bench granted permission and adjourned the hearing for a week.
