Peshawar High Court Seeks Replies Within 10 Days on Petitions for Recovery of Sohail Afridi, KP Assembly Speaker

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has sought responses from the parties concerned within 10 days on petitions seeking the recovery of suspended Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Provincial Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati and several other individuals.

During the hearing, Justice Arshad Ali remarked to the petitioners’ lawyer, “We will seek comments; please do not rush things.”

Political tensions between the federal government and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have intensified following the imposition of an emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on October 11, 2026. The transfer of provincial government powers to the governor and reports concerning the detention of suspended Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati and other PTI leaders have sparked controversy.

Two days after the imposition of governor’s rule and the emergency, Sohail Afridi’s brother, Muhammad Amir, filed a petition in the Peshawar High Court challenging his alleged disappearance and detention. He requested the court to recover his brother and produce him before the bench.

In his petition, Muhammad Amir alleged that on October 11, at around 2pm, armed and masked unidentified individuals took Sohail Afridi from the Chief Minister’s House in Peshawar in the presence of police officials.

A bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Farah Jamshed heard the petitions seeking the recovery of the suspended chief minister, the provincial assembly speaker and others.
Petitioners’ Counsel Raises Concerns
During the proceedings, the petitioners’ counsel argued that suspended Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati had been missing for the past 10 days. He further stated that the federal government had repeatedly claimed that the individuals were in its custody.

The lawyer also informed the court that PTI leader Junaid Akbar and 11 other individuals had allegedly been taken away from the Speaker’s House.

He maintained that the assembly speaker enjoys constitutional immunity and cannot be arrested in such a manner from the Speaker’s House.

In response, Justice Syed Arshad Ali observed that the court would seek comments from the relevant parties and urged the lawyer not to press the matter with undue haste.

Subsequently, the court issued notices to the concerned parties and directed them to submit their responses within 10 days.