LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday instructed the deputy commissioner (DC) of Lahore to decide by 5pm on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) request to hold a rally at Minar-e-Pakistan on February 8, marking the first anniversary of the 2023 general elections as “Black Day”.
Justice Farooq Haider issued the directive while hearing a petition filed by PTI Punjab Chief Organiser Aliya Hamza on February 3, seeking permission for the public gathering.
During the hearing, the court summoned Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman to clarify the procedure for granting such approvals. The chief secretary and DC Musa Raza appeared before the court, where the judge questioned whether any time limit was set for deciding such applications.
The DC responded that there were no restrictions on the timeframe.
The court observed that delaying the decision would restrict PTI from approaching another legal forum if their request were rejected at the last moment.
Justice Haider directed the DC to issue a decision by 5pm, emphasising that an early resolution would allow the party to make necessary arrangements.
