Successful writ petition from last month's elite force guards' case

               In the Honourable Lahore High Court at Lahore

                                                               W.P. No. ____ of 2012

Rana Mohammad Sohail, son of Rana Mehdi Hassan, resident of House No. 450 Naz Faridi Kot Mithan District Rajanpur. …  Petitioner

                                                                        Versus

1. Government of Punjab through Chief Secretary, Secretariat Lahore
2. Elite Police Force, Head Quarters, Elite Police Force, Bedian Center, Bedian Road, Lahore
3. Col Saad Saleem, Commandant/Commanding Officer, Elite Force, Headquarters, Elite Force, Bedian Center, Bedian Road, Lahore … Respondents

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Writ Petition under Article 199 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973

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RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:-

1. That the Petitioner is an employee of Respondent No. 2 who has diligently served Respondent No.2 as a constable for many years. His meritorious service in harm’s way is recognized and appreciated by the Petitioner’s superiors. 
2. That in or about April of this year, the Petitioner was asked to attend a month long refresher physical training course at the Bedian Center owned and operated by Respondent No. 2.
3. That at the end of the refresher course, the Petitioner along with other employees was asked to participate in a physical test containing such rigorous exercises as chin ups, pull ups, pushups and a 1 km run. The Petitioner passed all but one of these tests i.e. chin ups.
4. That to the Petitioner’s surprise and dismay, as punishment Respondent No. 2 verbally ordered the arbitrary detention of a month of all those employees that had failed to successfully clear subject to supplementary test to be conducted in a month’s time.
5. The names of employees so detained are as under:

Saleem Ayaz	Sub Inspector	District Bahawalnagar
Shahid	Constable	Bahawalnagar
Rana Suhail (Petitioner)	Constable	Rajanpur
Wasim Ijaz	Constable	Rawalpindi
Muhammad Akhtar	Constable	Rawalpindi
Asim Farooq	Head Constable	Rawalpindi
Kamran	Constable	Rawalpindi
Faisal	Constable	Rawalpindi
Tasawar Hussain	Constable	Chakwal
Muhammad Zubair	Constable	Muzaffargarh
Arif	Constable	Lahore
Muhammad Iqbal	Constable	Hafizabad
Javed Iqbal	Constable	Lahore
Tariq Hameed	Constable	Lahore
Zahid Nadeem	Head Constable
Abdul Ghafoor	Head Constable
Atiq ur Rahman	Head Constable
Iqbal Shahzad	Head Constable
Mujahid Hussain	Head Constable
Fayaz	Constable	Multan

6. That these employees of Respondent No. 2 are in detention and therefore have been unable to be made parties to this instant writ petition. However these employees also intend to become parties to the instant proceeding and will be incorporated at a later stage.

7. That these employees have been kept isolated and their freedom of movement has been restricted.

8. That the arbitrary verbal order of Respondent No. 3 and all subsequent actions of Respondent No. 2 and Respondent No. 3 to detain and hold against their will the aforesaid persons, including the Petitioner, is unconstitutional, arbitrary, illegal, unlawful and without any justification on the following grounds:

Grounds:

I.                   The arbitrary detention of the aforesaid persons, including the Petitioner militates against Articles 9 and 10 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, in so far as it takes without lawful authority the liberty of the aforesaid persons. There is absolutely no lawful basis for Respondent No. 3’s order.

II.                The bondage in which the aforesaid persons are kept against their will and without lawful authority by Respondents No. 2 and 3 is tantamount to slavery and therefore vitiates Article 11 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Further more this amounts to a compulsory service of a cruel nature and therefore in particular violates Article 11(4)b

III.             The bondage in which the aforesaid persons are kept is a sheer violation of Article 14 of the Constitution which guarantees the dignity of man. By detaining innocent persons who have served the state diligently and faithfully, the dignity of the aforesaid persons has been irrevocably shattered.

IV.             The arbitrary detention of aforesaid persons amounts to a denial of the fundamental right of movement which is guaranteed under Article 15 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

V.                The arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional detention of the aforesaid persons militates against Article 25 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan because none of the other employees in previous refresher physical courses have been detained in this manner. Therefore this arbitrary, unlawful

VI.             The persons employed by Respondent No. 2 are civilians and not subject to any special military law or otherwise. Nothing in the terms of their employment terms or agreement allow for such arbitrary detention.

VII.          The actions of the Respondents violate Articles 3 and 4 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in so much as it is exploitative of the persons aforesaid and violates their right to be treated according to law.

9. The petitioner submits that the petition involves substantial questions of law as to the interpretation and effect of the Constitution of Pakistan:

10. The respondents’ head quarters are based in Lahore and the whole of cause of action has arisen within the jurisdiction of the Hon'able High Court. The High Court therefore has jurisdiction to hear and dispose off this petition.

11. The petitioner has no other remedy for the redress of injuries complained heretobefore under any other law for the time being in force.

12. The petitioner has not submitted any other writ or petition to this Hon'able Court or the Supreme Court of Pakistan, in respect of the subject matter of this petition.

WHEREFORE it is respectfully prayed that the Petitioner, along with other persons above, be released from this arbitrary, unconstitutional and illegal detention which is tantamount to slavery and cruel and unusual compulsory service beyond the call of duty;

AND WHEREFORE it is prayed that this Hon’able Court directs Respondent No. 3 to answer as to under what authority has Respondent No. 3 detained these men against their will;

AND WHEREFORE it is prayed that that Respondent No. 2 and Respondent No. 3 be restrained from carrying out any retributive action against the Petitioner and others; and

Any other relief that this Hon’able Court deems fit may also kindly be granted.

                                                                                                                                         Petitioner

                                               

                                                                                                            Through

                                                                                               

                        Yasser Latif Hamdani

                                                                                                                        Advocate High Court

                                                PLH No. 42545

CERTIFICATE:

As per the instructions of the Client, this is the first writ petition on the subject before this Honourable Court.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        ADVOCATE