Islamabad—The Pattan Development Organisation reported that its chief’s residence and office in Multan have been sealed by authorities following the release of a report alleging rigging in the previous year’s general election. The closures were executed under directives from the Ministry of Interior, according to the organisation.
Pattan, which operates without a dedicated office in Islamabad, uses the home of its national coordinator, Sarwar Bari, for correspondence purposes. The organisation stated that police, accompanied by a magistrate, sealed the property in Islamabad’s Sector F-10 late on Friday night.
The action comes in the wake of Pattan’s recent publication that described the general elections as fraught with unprecedented levels of vote manipulation. A spokesperson for Pattan claimed that the sealing of their properties is a retaliatory measure in response to their critical report.
In Multan, a notice from the Registrar Joint Stock Companies was affixed to Pattan’s office gate, citing a Ministry of Interior letter as the basis for the closure. The letter claimed that Pattan was dissolved in 2019, a decision the organisation purportedly did not contest legally.
Contradicting the dissolution claim, the Pattan spokesperson argued that the organisation never received official notification regarding its status. He highlighted that Pattan’s election observers were accredited by the Election Commission of Pakistan and that the NGO has maintained active bank accounts and paid taxes.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan condemned the sealing of Pattan’s properties, labeling the act as a breach of Article 14(1) of the Constitution, which protects the sanctity of the home against arbitrary intrusion.
