ISLAMABAD: The petition filed by former National Assembly member Mohsin Dawar, Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, and Farhatullah Babar against the government’s decision to deport illegal immigrants has encountered objections from the registrar of the Supreme Court.
The registrar’s office contended that the petitioners failed to identify the questions of public importance related to the enforcement of fundamental rights under the Constitution, necessary to invoke Article 184(3).
On November 1, the trio challenged the expulsion of Afghan refugees from Pakistan in the Supreme Court. The registrar emphasized that the conditions for invoking the extraordinary jurisdiction of the court, as outlined in Article 184(3) of the Constitution, were not met. Furthermore, the petitioners were criticized for not seeking relief from any other appropriate legal forum and providing insufficient justification for not doing so.
The registrar pointed out that the inclusion of the Caretaker Prime Minister and Caretaker Chief Ministers of all provinces as respondents No.1 & 3-6 was not valid under Article 248 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973.
Notably, Pakistan had set November 1 as the commencement date for expulsions, leading to the authorities initiating the roundup of foreigners, predominantly Afghan nationals.
Undocumented individuals who chose not to leave faced arrest and forced expulsion. Many of these migrants had fled Afghanistan due to armed conflicts spanning several decades, with another surge occurring after the Taliban’s takeover following the withdrawal of US-led coalition forces in 2021.
