PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has challenged the imposition of emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the resolutions passed by both houses of Parliament and a joint sitting endorsing the move in the Peshawar High Court.
He has filed an application seeking amendments to his pending writ petition.
The application, filed by advocate Shah Faisal Ilyas, describes the imposition of emergency as unconstitutional and seeks suspension of the relevant government notification, or SRO, and annulment of the parliamentary resolutions.
The petitioner contended that President Asif Ali Zardari’s announcement on October 11, 2026, imposing emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under Article 234 of the Constitution was illegal and unconstitutional.
According to the petition, resolutions passed by the National Assembly and Senate on October 14, followed by a resolution adopted at a joint sitting of Parliament on October 15, have also been challenged. The petitioner argued that these resolutions attempted to provide legal cover to an unconstitutional measure.
The application maintains that under Article 232 of the Constitution, a resolution by the relevant provincial assembly is required to impose an emergency on the grounds of internal disturbances. However, no such resolution has been passed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, it stated.
The petitioner further argued that subsequent parliamentary approval could not remedy the failure to fulfil the initial constitutional requirement.
The court has been requested to declare the parliamentary resolutions concerning the emergency and the government notification issued as a consequence null and void.
The petitioner has also sought suspension of the disputed notification until a final decision in the case and requested that the relevant authorities be restrained from taking further action under it.
