Detention of Imran's sisters under MPO challenged in LHC

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan's three sisters—Uzma Khan, Noreen Niazi, and Aleema Khan—were recently detained for 30 days each under Punjab’s Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance. The sisters were detained by Lahore Deputy Commissioner (DC) ahead of the party’s protest call scheduled for September 27. Shahraiz Khan, Aleema Khan’s son, filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) to challenge the detention orders.

The petition argues that the detention orders issued by the DC were unlawful and did not follow the prescribed procedure under Section 3 of the MPO Ordinance. It contends that no specific allegations were mentioned, and the orders appeared unjustified. The petition also asserts that ordinary criminal law and less restrictive measures were not considered before detaining the sisters.

The LHC is asked to set aside the detention orders and declare them unlawful. The detentions coincide with a reported crackdown on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ahead of the countrywide protest and march to Islamabad. The PTI called for Imran Khan’s release from jail and mobilization for the supremacy of the Constitution. Party’s Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram accused Punjab police of detaining the sisters, their children, and Aleema Khan’s sons, transferring them to an unknown location.

The PTI has also claimed that other PTI officials have been taken into custody, including MNA Sanaullah Mastikhel, Ahsan Jamal Khan, and Mian Ghous. However, the government has vowed to halt the march, and the Islamabad High Court has ruled that political parties and their leaders do not have the lawful right to occupy public roads and buildings in Islamabad.