Summary The court has also summoned the authorities of intelligence agencies in next hearing.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday issued show-cause notice for contempt of court to Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal over barring the administration from taking action against the protesters at Faizabad despite its directives.
During the hearing, Justice Shaukat Siddiqui questioned that under which authority the interior minister impeded the action against the Faizabad protesters regardless of a court order issued beforehand.
“It is beyond understanding that how can a Prime Minister and minister disobey court orders,” remarked the judge. Justice Shaukat maintained that such act of Interior Minister is a bid to undermine the order of the court.
Interior secretary and Chief Commissioner also appeared before the IHC in the contempt of court notices issued them on Monday.
Chief Commissioner told court that the government has prevented them from taking any action against the protesters as they want to hold negotiations with them.
Know More: Govt moves to cut supply line of Faizabad sit-in protesters
“The court is not ordering to fire straight at the protesters. Half of them will disperse from tear gas shells,” said the judge while directing the district authorities to end the sit-in in next three days. The court has also summoned the authorities of intelligence agencies in next hearing.
Heavy contingent of Rangers, Frontier Corps and police are deployed in Faizabad whereas armored vehicles, prison vans and ambulances are also present.
The protesting bodies have vowed to continue the sit-in protest until law minister Zahid Hamid tenders his resignation for a ‘clerical mistake’ in amendment that was brought to Elections Act 2017. In the then revised form-A of nomination papers, the words “I solemnly swear” were replaced with “I believe” and the clause relating to Khatm-i-Naboowat was made applicable to non-Muslim candidates.
However, the change was branded a clerical mistake by National Assembly speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and the government had vowed immediate rectification of the alleged mistake.
The Senate had approved reversal of the changes made earlier.
Nonetheless, the protesters who camped in the outskirts of Islamabad and at Faizabad M2 interchange late October are adamant for the law minister to resign. However; Interior minister Ahsan Iqbal while maintaining a strict response for the protesters said on Thursday that the government would not entertain illegal demands of the protesting bodies.
Iqbal said that law was not put forth by Zahid Hamid but the parliamentary committee. The law minister presented the law as per the code and put forth an even improved form of it, he added. He said that the sit-in did not arise from the controversial amendment but from a political agenda.
Till date, a government delegation led by Iqbal convened over five sittings with representatives of the protesters but all ended in failure.
