Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has told the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) that no organisation called the “Imran Khan Rehai Force” has ever been formed, notified or made operational.
In a statement submitted through K-P Advocate General Shah Faisal Uthmankhel, Afridi said no armed group, militant organisation, coercive structure or paramilitary setup exists or has ever been planned under that name.
The statement came in response to a petition filed by Islamabad-based lawyer Malik Zaheer Ahmed through Advocate Ali Nawaz Kharal. The petition asked the court to declare any attempt to form or mobilise such a private force or militia illegal and unconstitutional under Articles 5, 17 and 256 of the Constitution and the Private Military Organisations (Abolition and Prohibition) Act, 1973.
The FCC had sought Afridi’s response on April 1 and directed him to submit it within 10 days. The case will return for hearing on July 29 before a three-member FCC bench headed by Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan.
Afridi clarified that the initiative referred to as a “force” is actually the Imran Khan Rehai Aman Movement, which he described as a peaceful, unarmed and voluntary civic-political campaign.
According to the statement, the movement seeks to raise public awareness about due process and the state’s responsibility to ensure fairness in criminal proceedings. Afridi maintained that the campaign supports the release of the PTI founder through lawful, democratic and constitutional means and has no connection with force, militancy or coercion.
