KARACHI: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has initiated preparations for its April 28 rally in the city on Wednesday.

PTI-Sindh president Haleem Adil Sheikh along with Khurram Sher Zaman, Raja Azhar and many party workers reached the Quaid’s mausoleum on Wednesday to pay their respects before inspecting preparations at Bagh-i-Jinnah in the shadows of the mausoleum.

The party is yet to get an official permission from the Sindh government authorities to hold the public meeting.

On Tuesday, the Sindh High Court has directed the authorities concerned that the PTI applications seeking permission to hold the public meeting must be processed in accordance with law.

A two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi also asked the authorities to furnish a compliance report on the subject matter by April 19, if there was no legal impediment.

The bench further ordered the deputy commissioner (East) to appear in court on next hearing and the reply/objections, if any, should be filed with advance copy to the lawyer for petitioner.

Citing the chief secretary of Sindh, commissioner of Karachi and DC (East) as respondents, PTI Sindh general secretary Ali Ahmed Palh petitioned the SHC and submitted that the party had approached the district and provincial administration on a number of occasions for permission or no-objection certificate (NOC) to hold a public gathering, but to no avail.

The petitioner submitted that initially, an application was filed with the DC concerned on March 21 seeking permission to hold a public meeting on April 21, at a ground adjacent to Mazar-i-Quaid from 4pm to midnight and proper access for people to the venue without any hindrance.

The petitioner asserted that he had a detailed meeting with the DC regarding the process and timely permission and the deputy commissioner had agreed upon venue and timing of such public gathering.

However, he maintained that since the DC had not granted the NOC, the petitioner moved another identical application on March 27, but no response was forthcoming and therefore, the party was forced to change the intended date by a week (April 28) and approached the chief secretary and the commissioner, but they also remained unable to make a decision on the subject matter.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024