Punjab Issues New Notification on MPO DetentionsPakistan

The detention period under the old notification will remain the same.

What the new notification changes

The new notification replaces the one issued by the Punjab Governor in 2017, which had governed detentions under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance until now. With the fresh notification, the Punjab Home Department has set out the revised procedure for placing a person in detention under the ordinance.

Under the revised rules, a district Deputy Commissioner can order detention for a maximum period of one month. The notification also sets out the procedure for cases in which detention continues beyond three months, requiring the matter to be referred to the Home Department once the 60th day of detention is completed.

At the same time, the notification makes clear that the detention period provided under the old notification will remain unchanged. The new rules therefore sit alongside the earlier position on the length of detention, while changing the authority and procedure for ordering it.

The Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance is the law under which the authorities can place a person in preventive detention. The new notification from the Punjab Home Department sets out who can order such detention, for how long, and what must happen when detention is extended.

Background

Earlier, following the withdrawal of detention orders under the MPO Ordinance, Dr Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi Khan, the sisters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan, were released from jail after 53 days in preventive custody, according to reports.

The new notification comes after that development, and it now provides the framework under which future detentions under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance in Punjab will be ordered and reviewed.