Courts again take late-night action

Much was said about the impropriety of courts taking late-night action to penalise functionaries who were purportedly acting against the writ of certain segments of state but now the same courts have been reported doing the same thing for granting relief to the people now positioned on the other side of the divide. This fact was brought home when the registrar’s office of the Islamabad High Court received a pre-arrest bail application late at night in respect of a fiery TV anchor Imran Riaz Khan who was arrested for delivering unsavoury comments about some institutions of the state. It was reported that the Islamabad High Court entertained the application late at night in accordance with the standard operating procedure set to entertain the petitions on emergent matters and those related to civic liberty, habeas corpus, and imminent threat to life. Taking late-night action, therefore, Justice Athar Minallah had issued notices to the Islamabad police chief and chief commissioner and told them to appear before the high court. It goes without saying that such matters are accorded priority irrespective of the hour they are brought to notice and instead of making an issue out of such activities they should be viewed in their proper perspective. TW