PHC restrains KP govt from using state machinery for political activities

• Govt must distinguish between official events, political gatherings: PHC
• Public resources must not be exploited for political purposes, rules court
• Provincial officials and machinery are used in politics, Petitioner tells PHC

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday restrained the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government from using state machinery for political activities, including rallies, public gatherings, and million marches.

In its four-page written order, the PHC ruled that the use of government resources in political activities is a violation of Articles 4, 5, and 25 of the Constitution and amounts to misuse of authority and waste of national funds.

Hearing a plea filed against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) provincial government, the court ruled that the government should differentiate between government functions and political events.

“Public resources must not be exploited for political purposes,” the PHC’s written order said.

According to the petitioner, provincial authorities use government employees and machinery for political events, adding that equipment — used in protests in the past — still remains in the Centre’s custody.

Earlier, the federal government also expressed concerns over the “use” of state machinery by the KP government ahead of the PTI’s protest in November 2024.

The Ministry of Interior had directed the KP bureaucracy to ensure that state machinery is not used by the provincial government.

In a letter, the interior ministry had asked the KP chief secretary to ensure that the “state machinery, equipment, officials, and finances” should not be utilised “for political protest by the political party”.