Pakistan, Nov. 15 -- National Assembly Opposition Leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai and Senate Opposition Leader Raja Nasir Abbas on Saturday jointly filed a petition before the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), seeking the immediate release of the dysfunctional Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi and eight other parliamentarians.

The PTI-backed chief minister and other lawmakers had been taken into preventive ?custody hours before the federal government imposed governor's rule and emergency in KP on October 11.

In their petition, the opposition leaders argued that keeping elected representatives in custody amounts to rendering the public mandate ineffective.

"Targeting them on the basis of political affiliation violates Artic...