Court dismisses cases against Islamabad protesters

A Pakistani court Wednesday quashed all cases registered against the protesters of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) who violated prohibitory orders here, a media report said.

While questioning the validity of the arrests, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed all cases registered against the violators of Section 144, Dawn online reported.

The court said that it would not tolerate lawlessness in the country, adding that it would not let the authorities make arbitrary arrests.

The PTI counsel submitted a petition before the court Sep 13 against the detention of party workers by authorities while imposing Section 144 in the country's capital.

Earlier Monday, IHC had ordered the release of over 650 people, including DJ Butt, a PTI sound engineer, who were arrested for violating Section 144 and pillion riding ban last week.

It had also issued a notice to the government and sought reply on the petition.

The supporters of the two parties were arrested for trying to stop a police van carrying scores of people to jail. Most people were held for violating a ban on pillion riding in different parts of the capital.

The PTI counsel contended that arrests could only be made if they were mandated by a district magistrate.

Meanwhile, the district attorney opposed the arguments of the counsel and said that all the FIRs had been registered according to law.