The Lahore High Court has directed the Punjab home secretary and Kot Lakhpat jail superintendent to appear on Oct. 28 and explain why Imran Khan’s three sisters remain in custody after their detention orders expired.
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday summoned the Punjab home secretary and the superintendent of Kot Lakhpat jail over the continued detention of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan’s three sisters, whose 30-day detention orders have expired.
Justice Abher Gul Khan issued the directions while hearing a petition filed by Shahrez Khan, the son of Aleema Khan, challenging the detention of Aleema Khan, Noreen Niazi and Uzma Khan. The court directed both officials to appear in person on Oct. 28 and submit reports explaining the circumstances surrounding the women’s continued detention.
The three sisters were detained in September under the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960, for 30 days as the PTI prepared for a planned protest march toward Islamabad.
During Thursday’s proceedings, Advocate Rana Mudassar Umar, representing the petitioner, told the court that the detention orders had expired on Oct. 19 and 20, but the three women remained in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail.
The counsel argued that their continued detention after the expiry of the specified period required judicial intervention.
Justice Khan questioned why the Lahore deputy commissioner had not been included as a respondent in the petition. The lawyer explained that the official had not been made a party because the detention notification issued by the deputy commissioner had already expired.
Uzma Khan’s husband, Ahad Khan, also approached the rostrum and requested that the court summon the deputy commissioner. However, the judge observed that the official could not be summoned in the proceedings because he had not been impleaded as a party.
The court subsequently adjourned the hearing until Oct. 28, directing the Punjab home secretary and the jail superintendent to appear personally with their reports.
In the petition filed a day earlier, Shahrez Khan maintained that his mother and aunts continued to be held despite completing their 30-day detention period. He asked the court to declare the detention orders unlawful and direct the relevant authorities to release the three women.
The petition also alleged that the detentions were linked to the sisters’ efforts to secure their brother’s release. It argued that preventive detention should not be used as a substitute for ordinary criminal proceedings and challenged the orders under Article 10 of the Constitution and the safeguards provided by Section 3 of the MPO Ordinance.
The petitioner further requested that the jail superintendent be directed to produce the detainees before the court. The plea sought the suspension of the detention orders, a declaration that they were void and the women’s release in the interest of justice.
The next hearing on Oct. 28 is expected to provide an opportunity for the officials to explain the authorities’ position on the continued detention of Imran Khan’s sisters.
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