Pak court to hear petition for Taliban office

A Pakistani court has admitted for hearing a petition seeking direction for the federal government to allow Taliban to set up its office in the country.

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Umer Ata Bandial yesterday overruled an objection raised by the LHC registrar's office on the maintainability of the petition.

The registrar's office had taken a plea that courts could not interfere in policy matters of the government.

Petitioner advocate Kashif Mahmood Sulemani argued that courts were constitutionally bound to protect the fundamental rights of citizens.

"The rights are being violated by the government's policy of letting foreign powers to kill its citizens with drone strikes", he said.

Advocate Sulemani further argued allowing the Taliban to set up its office in Pakistan would facilitate the ongoing peace talks process.

According to charter of United Nations, no sanctions could be imposed on Pakistan for holding dialogue with the Taliban, he maintained.

Chief Justice Bandial heard the arguments and overruled the office's objection.

The LHC office will fix the date for hearing the case.