PHC Issues Notice to Attorney General on PTI Petitions Against KP Governor's Rule, Emergency

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the attorney general and other authorities on petitions filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf challenging the imposition of governor's rule and emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with the two-member bench hearing arguments that the October 11 measures were unconstitutional, Geo News, The News and the Tribune reported.

• The bench: Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Muhammad Faheem Wali presided over the hearing and directed notices to the federal government, the attorney general for Pakistan, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general and other relevant authorities, the Tribune reported
• The petitioners: PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and Advocate Salman Khan filed separate petitions asking the court to declare the measures unconstitutional and set them aside; pleas were also submitted by NDM leaders including Mohsin Dawar, PTI's Shandana Gulzar, the KP Bar Council and representatives of Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-Ayin-i-Pakistan
• Core legal argument: petitioners' counsel argued an emergency can be imposed only in the event of war or external aggression — "there is neither war nor external aggression here," the lawyer told the court, per Geo News
• Next hearing: the court adjourned further proceedings until November 10, Daily Pakistan reported

Main News Report

The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday took up the petitions challenging the PML-N-led federal government's decision, taken on October 11, to impose governor's rule and declare an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province ruled by the Imran Khan-founded party since 2013. The federal government had cited rising terrorism incidents and the provincial government's lack of support for counterterrorism operations as the reasons for the move, after which Governor Faisal Karim Kundi took charge of running the province with the assistance of an 11-member technocratic KP Advisory Council.

During the hearing, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan told the court that governor's rule and the emergency had been imposed on the same day, alongside the formation of the advisory council and the transfer of 38 deputy commissioners, the Tribune reported. The PTI chief further alleged that 12 of the party's members of the National Assembly and more than a dozen members of the provincial assembly had been picked up, and that party offices had been demolished and plaques marking the inauguration of development projects broken. "Our mandate was snatched away," Gohar said, according to the Tribune.

Representing the petitioners, Barrister Sameer Khosa argued that the provincial government had not lost control of the province and that the twin measures amounted to an attack on provincial autonomy and democracy. He told the bench that non-functional Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and provincial assembly speaker Babar Saleem Swati were missing and their whereabouts unknown, and said the petition sought their recovery, the restoration of the assembly and the reversal of the measures, the Tribune reported. Salman Akram Raja, also representing Gohar, maintained that the relevant legal requirements had not been fulfilled and called for governor's rule and the emergency to be withdrawn.

Background Context

The October 11 imposition of governor's rule and emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the most drastic federal intervention in a province in recent years, suspending the PTI's elected government in a province it has governed continuously since 2013. Islamabad justified the move on security grounds, pointing to a surge in terrorism incidents and accusing the provincial administration of withholding support for counterterrorism operations.

PakInsight Hub has tracked the fallout since the move: the Senate opposition on Monday slammed the emergency as a "federal takeover", while in the National Assembly, Mehmood Khan Achakzai has demanded that the whereabouts of Chief Minister Sohail Afridi be disclosed. The constitutional test at stake is Article 232(1): petitioners' counsel argued an emergency requires the provincial assembly's approval before imposition, a procedure they say was never followed, and that the subsequent endorsement by the National Assembly and Senate is also being contested, Daily Pakistan reported. The counsel also cited the Supreme Court's ruling in the Pir Sabir Shah case to contend that the chief minister and provincial cabinet should continue functioning during an emergency.

Reactions and Statements

Inside the courtroom, the petitioners' counsel framed the case as a defence of the constitutional order. "There is neither war nor external aggression here," the lawyer told the bench, arguing the emergency power could not be invoked on the stated grounds, per Geo News. Khosa maintained that no circumstances indicated the provincial government was unable to maintain control of the province.

Justice Anwar asked whether the petition sought the production of the missing chief minister and speaker before the court or their recovery. "Yes, we have made that request in the petition," Khosa replied, the Tribune reported. Outside the court, PTI leaders addressed the media, presenting the hearing as a first judicial test of the federal government's most aggressive move against a provincial government in years.

The federal government's position remains the one it stated on October 11: that the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the provincial government's lack of cooperation with counterterrorism operations left it no choice. The attorney general and the KP advocate general will now file their responses ahead of the November 10 hearing.

Why This News Matters

• First judicial test: this is the first time a court has taken up the constitutional validity of the October 11 measures — the notices signal the PHC is treating the challenge seriously rather than dismissing it outright
• Provincial autonomy on trial: the petitions put Article 232(1) and the limits of federal emergency powers at the centre of national debate, with implications far beyond Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
• Missing chief minister: the claim that CM Sohail Afridi and the assembly speaker are missing — raised in court and in the National Assembly — keeps a volatile sub-plot alive alongside the legal battle
• Political temperature: with the Senate opposition already calling the emergency a "federal takeover", the court's eventual ruling will either vindicate the federal government's security narrative or hand the PTI a major political weapon
• A long wait: with the next hearing fixed for November 10, governor's rule in KP looks set to continue for weeks at minimum, entrenching the new administrative order in the province

Future Developments

All eyes now turn to November 10, when the attorney general, the federal government and the KP advocate general must present their responses. The bench said a further order would be issued subsequently, Daily Pakistan reported — meaning the court could either move toward a full hearing on the merits or issue interim directions on the chief minister's recovery plea.

Separately, the PTI's allegations about abducted lawmakers and demolished offices, and the unresolved whereabouts of Chief Minister Afridi and the speaker, are likely to keep generating political heat outside the courtroom. Whether the November hearing becomes a landmark constitutional ruling or a procedural adjournment will determine how long the emergency experiment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lasts.

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