IHC dismisses petition seeking ban on Aurat March

Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday dismissed a petition seeking a ban on Aurat March, planned for Sunday.

The court issued eight-page verdict stating, “Women can exercise their constitutional rights with decency. Participants of the Aurat March must prove their critics wrong with their conduct.”

Earlier, the court reserved its judgment on the maintainability of the petition, seeking a ban on Aurat March, as Chief Justice Athar Minallah observed that severe violations of Islamic laws were being committed in the Pakistani society.

Those rights are being sought in the Aurat March, which have been granted by Islam, the chief justice remarked. Who has stopped the incidents of burying the girls alive, he questioned.

When the petitioner’s lawyer argued that both Islam and law should be kept in mind in the march, the chief justice asked him how it was against Islam.

The chief justice observed that the organisers had clarified at a press conference the other day that the slogans were meant for the rights not being given to the women. How one can interpret the slogans when their meanings have been explained, he further asked.

The chief justice stressed the need for curbing the incidents that are against Islam and observed that action would be taken if something illegal happened on March 8, as the petitioners are seeking relief prematurely.

The chief justice noted that the court hoped that they would move judiciary for implementing all the Islamic laws.