The Islamabad administration on Friday filed a contempt of court petition along with a show-cause notice against the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) for planning to set up a stage on Srinagar Highway and causing road blockage thus violating the terms and conditions of the no-objection certificate (NOC) issued to it.
The capital administration had issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) to the JUI-F on the condition that the party would ‘not disturb the fundamental rights of citizens.’
However, the administration has now determined that the stage over the Srinagar Highway would block the traffic excessively which would violate the NOC, due to which the Islamabad administration handed a show-cause notice to the party.
Mufti Abdullah and Maulana Abdul Majeed Hazarawi were made parties in the contempt of court petition.
Petition submitted in Supreme Court
The petition submitted in the Supreme Court, by the Advocate General Islamabad Niazullah Niazi, said that the secretary-general of JUI had claimed not to block the Srinagar Highway, however now, despite court orders and assurances, the party wanted to close service roads including the highway. This would sabotage the peace, and law and order situation of the city, the petition maintained. The administration has already issued a show-cause notice to the party, said the advocate general.
Earlier, the Supreme Court (SC) had left the matter of political parties’ gatherings to the administration of Islamabad and ruled that the ICT administration had the authority to make decisions keeping in consideration matters of law and order.
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) was previously allowed by the capital administration to hold a rally in Islamabad on March 25, but the JUI requested a rally on March 26 and while announcing the schedule of its anti-inflation march said that the procession would enter Islamabad on the evening of March 26 and would gather on Srinagar Highway.