PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has filed a petition in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) challenging the imposition of a state of emergency and Governor’s Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), ARY News reported.
In his petition, Gohar requested the court to declare the measures null and void. He also sought an early hearing of the case.
Earlier, the PTI chairman questioned the federal government’s justification for imposing an emergency in KP. He argued that if security concerns warranted such action, similar measures should also be considered in other troubled areas, including Balochistan and the Katcha region.
Speaking to the media outside Parliament, Gohar said the security situation in KP alone could not justify the move while other parts of the country continued to face security challenges.
“If the situation is bad, impose Governor’s Rule in Balochistan as well. If conditions are not right, impose emergency in the Katcha areas too,” he said.
Gohar Raises Concerns Over Provincial Autonomy
Gohar accused the federal government of effectively reviving Article 58(2)(b) of the Constitution through its move in KP. He argued that the decision undermined parliamentary democracy and provincial autonomy.
Article 58(2)(b), abolished through the Eighteenth Constitutional Amendment in 2010, had empowered the president to dissolve the National Assembly, paving the way for the dismissal of the prime minister and federal cabinet.
The PTI chairman maintained that the appropriate response to terrorism should have been to strengthen the provincial government rather than weaken its authority.
“If you wanted to fight terrorism, you should have strengthened the provincial government,” he said.
Gohar warned that the emergency would further undermine provincial autonomy. He also alleged that the KP government had already been deprived of its authority, with government officials refusing to cooperate with the provincial administration.
PTI Alleges Officials Are Ignoring Provincial Government
Gohar claimed that PTI ministers had been picked up and that deputy commissioners (DCs) and district police officers (DPOs) were not following the provincial government’s directives.
He questioned how a chief minister could effectively govern a province if district administration and police officials did not comply with the provincial government’s instructions.
Referring to the deployment of Rangers in Sindh, Gohar also questioned the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) response to similar security measures. He accused PPP leaders of taking a different position when such measures affected their own province.
The PTI chairman vowed that his party would strongly protest against the imposition of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
