Raids, roads blockade
ISLAMABAD
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has accepted a petition against the police crackdown on PTI leaders’ homes and the closure of roads leading to the capital ahead of PTI’s Azaadi march. The SC, accepting the Islamabad High Court Bar Association’s petition, formed a three-member bench headed by Justice Aijaz-ul-Ahsan and set the hearing for May 25, 2022. Justice Muneeb Akhtar and Justice Mazhar Ali Akbar Naqvi are the two other judges int the three-member bench.
The petitioner claimed that the closure of roads is causing problems for common people who want to go to their offices or children going to school. The petition added that the police are trading homes of PTI leaders, MNAs, MPAs and workers and arresting them without any warrants.
The petition urged the Supreme Court to order the removal of obstacles from roads and halt the security agencies from committing any unconstitutional acts. The IHCBA, in its petition, told the court that the blockage of roads and highways by different state institutions and executive authorities was “preventing” advocates, citizens, including ambulances and doctors, from reaching their destinations. The association, in its petition, stated that the lawyers were also stuck on the highways and roads for a long period which made them “unable to approach” the Supreme Court, thus, depriving citizens of their fundamental rights and hindering “access to justice”.
