Petition seeking court's directions for centre to devise guidelines for rallies, sit-ins moved in Supreme Court.

ISLAMABAD -- A petition seeking court's directions for the federal and provincial govts to devise comprehensive guidelines for holding of public rally, meeting and sit-in was moved in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The petition was filed by Kamran MurAtaza senior Advocate of the Supreme Court and he cited Federation of Pakistan through Secretary Ministry of Interior, Chief Secretaries of Punjab, Sindh, BaloAchistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) through its General Secretary Asad Umar and Chairman PTI Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi as respondents.

In his petition, Murtaza requested the court to issue directions to the Federal and Provincial Governments to devise compreAhensive guidelines for holding of public ralAly/Jalsa/dharna ensuring balance between competing fundamental rights including prohibition to hold such rally within the populated areas of cities including ICT if exceeding a certain number of persons and also to ensure that such rally may not be for indefinite period of time. He also prayed to the court to issue directions to respondents 1 to 5 to thereafter regulate the holdings of public gathering/rally/Jalsa and ensure that that any rally/Jalsa will not encroach and stifle the fundamental rights of the people of the ICT as well as the people of Pakistan. The petitioner also requested the court to direct the respondent No. 6 and 7 to conduct in an orderly manner and abide by the law beside directions issued by this Court from time to time and the guidelines issued by the governments in respect of holdings of rallies. He added that Jalsa/dharna be kept out skirts of Islamabad city where this court deem appropriate.

He stated that the reason for filing this petition directly before the august SuApreme Court of Pakistan is that the issue raised herein, namely whether a political party, in purported exercise of fundamenAtal rights under Articles 15, 16 and 17 (2) of the Constitution can impinge on correAsponding fundamental rights of citizens of Pakistan and what reasonable restrictions the State is required to impose to balance the competing fundamental rights, raises the question of public importance, relatAing to enforcement of fundamental rights, hence, falling within the scope of Article 184(3) of the Constitution, in light of the dicta laid down by this august Court in the case reported as PLD 2007 Supreme Court 642. He raised the question that whether any government / executive can give permission for any...