IHC sets limits on protests affecting citizens’ rights

IHC sets limits on protests affecting citizens’ rights

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ruled that any activity that infringes on citizens’ fundamental rights amounts to a violation of the Constitution, warning that public office holders responsible for such violations could also be held in breach of their oath of office.

The observation came in a detailed 37-page judgment concerning the proposed Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) nationwide protest and march towards Islamabad on September 27, 2026. The PTI had announced the mobilisation to demand the release of party founder Imran Khan and call for what it described as the supremacy of the Constitution.

The petition was filed by citizen Waqas Ahmed, who argued that the planned protest could disrupt routine life in the federal capital, including traffic, business and other public activities.

A three-member IHC bench headed by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and comprising Justice Muhammad Asif and Justice Muhammad Azam Khan issued the detailed judgment. The court had announced its short order on September 14 after hearing the Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Awan, Additional Attorney General Amir Rehman, the advocate generals of the four provinces and Islamabad, and petitioner’s counsel Barrister Akhter Cheena.

The court described the matter as requiring an “unusual degree of constitutional balance” between the right of political parties and citizens to assemble peacefully and express dissent and the fundamental rights of other citizens.

These rights, the court noted, include life, liberty, dignity, freedom of movement, trade, business and property, as well as access to hospitals, educational institutions, courts and workplaces.

The judgment made clear that the Constitution protects the right to peaceful assembly but said that right remains subject to the Constitution and applicable laws. According to the court, political parties are entitled to protest, but they cannot exercise that right in a manner that infringes upon the fundamental rights of other citizens.

The court also addressed an important objection raised by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general regarding the IHC’s territorial jurisdiction over provincial authorities operating outside Islamabad.

Rejecting the objection, the bench referred to Article 199(1)(c) of the Constitution, which empowers a high court to issue directions where a governmental power or function is being exercised “in, or in relation to” territory within its jurisdiction.

However, the IHC clarified that this provision does not give a high court general supervisory authority over another province. It held that the court could issue directions to an authority located outside its territorial jurisdiction only when the governmental function had a direct and proximate legal connection with territory falling within the court’s jurisdiction.

The court said such intervention must also be necessary to protect fundamental rights within its territorial jurisdiction.

The detailed judgment comes amid preparations by authorities for the PTI’s announced September 27 protest and adds a constitutional framework to the ongoing debate over the limits of political demonstrations and the rights of citizens affected by them.