ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has been banned from holding protests in the capital, thus the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday postponed ruling on the party’s request for permission to hold a rally there.
The PTI leader Amir Mughal filed a petition after the government denied permission for the party to host its event on July 26. IHC Justice Saman Rifat chaired the hearing on the petition.
The state attorney told the court that, due to security concerns, the administration of the federal capital had turned down requests for protest demonstrations from all political parties.
Ayaz Shaukat, the advocate general for Islamabad, reported that the PTI is planning a protest rally, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has announced holding a sit-in at D-Chowk, and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has organized a protest rally.But nobody was granted permission. “Islamabad is no longer open,” he declared.
Advocate Shoaib Shaheen, representing the petitioner, requested permission from the court to allow his party to stage a protest in F-9 Park.
The advocate general had stated that they could not grant a permit if JI’s sit-in continued, according to the lawyer, when the IHC had approached the administration for permission to allow the PTI to stage a rally on Monday.
Justice Riffat advised the advocate general after the arguments that he shouldn’t come across as “helpless” because he was speaking on behalf of the government.
“We have a large number of adversarial neighbors. What will they conclude [from your statements]?” She enquired.
