K-P CM Rejects Claims of Armed ‘Imran Release Force’

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has rejected allegations that an armed organisation named the “Imran Khan Rehai Force” was created to campaign for the release of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder. His formal response was submitted to the Federal Constitutional Court in Islamabad as proceedings continued over a petition challenging the alleged group’s legality.

Afridi told the court that no organisation carrying that name had ever been established, officially notified or made operational. The provincial chief minister maintained that neither his government nor any associated political structure had formed an armed wing, paramilitary body, coercive network or militant organisation linked to the campaign for Imran Khan’s release.

The response was filed through Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Advocate General Shah Faisal Uthmankhel. It addressed a constitutional petition submitted by Islamabad-based lawyer Malik Zaheer Ahmed, who asked the court to declare that any attempt to create or mobilise a private force for political purposes would be unlawful and incompatible with Pakistan’s constitutional framework.

The petitioner cited constitutional provisions concerning loyalty to the state, freedom of association and the prohibition of private armies. He also referred to the Private Military Organisations (Abolition and Prohibition) Act, 1973, arguing that any group organised around coercive or armed mobilisation would require judicial intervention before it could pose a threat to public order.

Afridi’s submission drew a distinction between the alleged force and what he described as the “Imran Khan Rehai Aman Movement”. According to the chief minister, the initiative is intended to function as a peaceful, voluntary and unarmed political campaign focused on constitutional advocacy, public awareness and demands for due process in criminal proceedings involving the PTI founder.

The chief minister assured the court that the movement’s stated objectives did not include violence, intimidation or the creation of an enforcement structure. He argued that references to a “force” had been misinterpreted and possessed no factual or legal basis that could support claims of militancy, coercion or an imminent danger to public safety.

Afridi also rejected comparisons between the movement and armed or clandestine organisations associated with earlier periods of Pakistan’s political history. His response said such parallels were based on political assumptions and selective historical references rather than evidence connected to the present case, making them unsuitable grounds for declaring the campaign unlawful.

The provincial chief executive further argued that political movements are organised through party structures and do not fall within the official administrative authority of a chief minister. He said his constitutional responsibilities relate to governance, development and public welfare, and that he had neither the mandate nor the power to establish a private political organisation in his official capacity.

The response asked the court to dismiss the petition as speculative, premature and unsupported by proof of an actual legal violation. Afridi also requested recognition of the peaceful campaign as a constitutionally protected form of civic and political activity under provisions guaranteeing assembly, association and freedom of expression.

The case is scheduled to return before a three-member Federal Constitutional Court bench headed by Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan on July 29. The next hearing is expected to examine the maintainability of the petition, the legal status of the political movement and whether the allegations demonstrate any concrete threat requiring judicial restrictions.