LHC Disposes of Release Plea as Punjab Extends Detention of Imran Khan's Sisters by Another 30 Days

Photo: Geo News

The Lahore High Court on Monday disposed of a petition seeking the release of PTI founder Imran Khan's three sisters after the Punjab government informed the court that their preventive detention had been extended for another 30 days.

Main News Report

An assistant advocate general of Punjab told Justice Abher Gul Khan that the government had approved a further 30-day detention of Aleema Khan, Dr Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi on the recommendation of the Lahore deputy commissioner. The law officer submitted a report on behalf of the home secretary and said the detention period had been extended on 7 October.

The three sisters are held at Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail. They were detained in September under the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960, as the PTI geared up for a planned protest march towards Islamabad. Aleema was detained on 20 September, while Uzma and Noreen were detained a day later.

Their initial 30-day detention orders expired on 19 October for Aleema and on 20 October for Uzma and Noreen, the petitioner's counsel had said at the previous hearing.

• Who: Aleema Khan, Dr Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi, sisters of jailed PTI founder Imran Khan.
• What: Preventive detention extended by another 30 days under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960.
• Where: Lahore High Court; the sisters are held at Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore.
• When: The extension was approved on 7 October and disclosed to the court on Monday; the release petition was disposed of the same day.

Background Context

The petition was filed by Aleema's son, Shahrez Khan, who alleged that the three sisters remained confined at Kot Lakhpat jail despite the end of their initial 30-day detention orders. Geo News reports that Shahrez filed the petition on 20 October, challenging the detention.

According to Geo, the detentions came ahead of the PTI's nationwide protest, including a planned long march on Islamabad on 27 September to demand Imran Khan's release and the supremacy of the Constitution. The sisters were detained under Section 3 of the MPO on the recommendation of the police and the Lahore deputy commissioner.

The case has run alongside the wider confrontation between the PTI and the state over the party's campaign against the emergency and governor's rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including PTI petitions in the Peshawar High Court against the KP emergency and a province-wide lawyers' strike announced by the KP Bar Council. The Imran Khan interview row also recently led the PCB to drop two commentators from the tri-series panel.

Reactions and Statements

The petitioner's counsel, Rana Mudassar Umar, asked the court to order the recovery of the three women and their production before the court. He argued that the continuous detention beyond the notified period was unlawful, that the sisters were not wanted in any criminal case, and that preventive detention could not be used as a substitute for ordinary criminal law.

Justice Khan observed that while the deputy commissioner had issued the detention notifications, the petitioner had not made the official a respondent in the petition. The judge held that the court could not issue an order beyond the scope of the petition, and disposed of it in light of the home secretary's report.

The Punjab government, through its law officer, maintained that the extension had been approved on the deputy commissioner's proposal. The Punjab home secretary and the superintendent of Kot Lakhpat jail appeared before the court in line with its earlier order.

Why This News Matters

The case is a test of how far preventive detention under the MPO can stretch when the original detention period has already expired. The court's disposal on a technical ground, the deputy commissioner not being a respondent, leaves the extended detention in place without a ruling on its merits.

For the PTI, the continued detention of Imran Khan's sisters has become a symbol of its wider confrontation with the Punjab government, and any further legal challenge will now have to be framed differently to get past the objection that decided this petition.

Future Developments

The sisters will remain in detention for the extended 30-day period unless a fresh petition is filed or the government decides otherwise. Watch for whether Shahrez Khan files a new petition naming the deputy commissioner as a respondent, and for any PTI response or protest call over the extended detention.

The expiry of the fresh detention period, roughly a month from the 7 October extension, will be the next decisive date in the case.

Sources

• Dawn, Petition for release of Imran's sisters disposed of
• Geo News, Imran sisters' detention extended by another 30 days, LHC told

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