PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has restrained the authorities from arresting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Deputy Speaker Suriya Bibi until Nov 10, while allowing her to retain access to her official residence.
A bench comprising Justices Ijaz Anwar and Muhammad Faheem Wali ordered that the Oct 14 order to vacate her official residence remain suspended. It also provisionally allowed her to occupy the accommodation until the next hearing.
“The respondents are further restrained from arresting the petitioner till the date fixed,” the bench ruled in its three-page order sheet.
The court fixed Nov 10 for the next hearing of Ms Bibi’s petition against the sealing of her official residence and her anticipated arrest under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance.
Court also allows Suriya Bibi to retain official residence, suspends order to vacate it
The bench observed that the proclamation imposing governor’s rule in the province did not mention the speaker or deputy speaker among the functionaries who ceased to hold office.
“Apparently, the presidential order does not find mention of the position of speaker/deputy speaker. Similarly, even the vacation order makes reference to those categories (of ministers and advisers) but it nowhere mentions the position of speaker/deputy speaker, which prima facie suggests that the same is not covered by the proclamation order,” it observed.
The bench noted that Advocate General Sanaullah had argued that in “view of Federal Government Order-1 of 2026, read with Federal Government Order-2 of 2026 and the Oct 11 proclamation” for an emergency, the government had every authority to have official accommodation vacated by advisers and provincial ministers, including the deputy speaker.
He also contended that the petitioner had been named in an FIR registered on behalf of the Chitral deputy commissioner on Oct 12 under Section 406 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The bench reproduced the proclamation order regarding the cessation of certain categories of the public representatives. “The chief minister, provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants and the advocate general of the province of KP shall forthwith cease to hold office,” one of its provisions said.
The court also referred to arguments by the petitioner’s counsel, Yasir Khattak, who cited Section 8 of the KP Province Speaker and Deputy Speaker’s (Immunities, Privileges, Salaries and Allowances) Act, 2026.
It entitles the speaker and deputy speaker to use official accommodation without paying rent until they are replaced and their substitutes are chosen.
The lawyer also cited Section 27(2) of the act, which provided that the deputy speaker could not be arrested, detained or confined, and that her official residence could not be searched, entered or raided by a law enforcement agency during her term in office.
He claimed that after governor’s rule was imposed in the province, police raided his client’s official residence “without any reason and justification to harass her and unlawfully arrest her”.
He added that at midnight on Oct 14, the respondents and other officials again raided the residence and locked it.
The petitioner asked the court to direct the provincial government and the inspector general of police to immediately unseal her residence and restore her access to and possession of the property.
She also sought directions restraining the KP police chief and Peshawar deputy commissioner from raiding her residence or arresting or detaining her under any order issued pursuant to Section 3 of the MPO Ordinance.
Following the imposition of governor’s rule, a case was registered against the deputy speaker for allegedly “refusing to return an official vehicle”.
Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2026