Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan on Wednesday petitioned the Peshawar High Court against the emergency and governor's rule imposed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, seeking the restoration of the province's elected government. The petition was filed under Article 199 of the Constitution.
According to Dawn, the petition asks the court to declare the October 11 proclamation unconstitutional and of no legal effect, to restore Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and his cabinet with full powers, and to order the release of Afridi and provincial cabinet and assembly members from detention. It also challenges the order deploying the army under Article 245, the 11-member KP Advisory Council headed by Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, and an Area Development Secretariat created for 12 districts.
The petition argues that under Article 232(1) a proclamation based on internal disturbance requires a prior resolution of the provincial assembly, and that no such resolution was moved or passed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It also points out that no emergency was declared in Balochistan despite a high number of terrorist incidents there, and asks that the federal government and governor produce the record behind the decision, including the governor's report and the cabinet summary.
The Federation, the province, the governor, the provincial assembly speaker and the home secretary are named as respondents, with Afridi as a pro forma respondent. The state news agency APP said the petitioner has asked for an early hearing. No hearing date had been reported.
Geo News quoted Gohar as saying the measures had effectively ended the province's democratic government and that the party would continue its constitutional and legal struggle. PTI secretary general Salman Akram Raja said the party was also going to court to establish Afridi's whereabouts.
President Asif Ali Zardari imposed the emergency and governor's rule on October 11 under Articles 232 and 234 on the prime minister's advice. The federal government says the step was needed because of worsening law and order and poor counterterrorism coordination by the provincial government. Both houses of Parliament endorsed the proclamation on Wednesday.