LAHORE: Justice Muzammal Akhtar Shabbir of the Lahore High Court (LHC) Tuesday disposed of a petition after police assurance to enforce the ban on protest rallies on The Mall.
An assistant advocate general gave an undertaking on behalf of Punjab police. He said that the ban on protest on Mall road was intact since November 2011, when the LHC directed the Punjab government not to allow anyone to stage a protest on the road.
He said that every possible measure would be taken to restrain people from protesting and blocking the road. The court directed the Punjab government to take every possible measure to implement the order and not to allow anyone to block The Mall.
A citizen, Ali Jawad, had moved the petition. Counsel for petitioner Sheraz Zaka contended that terrorists were targeting those areas where a scrum of people gathers. He said that staging a protest for a genuine demand was a fundamental right of citizens, yet it increases the vulnerability of the people to terrorist attacks. He said that protests on busy roads also cause hazards in smooth traffic flow.
