LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) was informed on Thursday that the Punjab government had lifted ban on protests, demonstrations and rallies in the provincial capital. Advocate General Punjab (AGP) Shan Gul made the statement before Justice Muhammad Waheed Khan who was hearing a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Hammad Azhar challenging the ban imposed by the government on protests, rallies and other such activities under Section 144 of the Code of the Criminal Procedure. The AGP submitted that the government had lifted Section 144. He further defended the imposition of Section 144 in the provincial capital and submitted that yesterdaywas a sensitive day.
At this, the court disposed of the petition for being ineffective in the light of the AGP’s statement. The Punjab Home Department on Wednesday banned all kinds of protests, demonstrations and rallies in the provincial capital for a week. The ban had been imposed under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal procedure due to “overall security situation” in the wake of recent spate of terrorism and threat alerts.