LAHORE:The Lahore High Court (LHC) directed Lahore Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rafia Haider and Aurat March organizers, to sit together and finalize the venue for the March 8 rally by 2pm on Tuesday.

Earlier, the Aurat March organizing committee had requested a no objection certificate (NOC) from the district administration last month, to hold a rally on March 8 at Nasser Bagh, Lahore.

However, DC Haider had rejected the plea citing “the current security scenario, threat alerts, and law and order situation, and in light of activities like controversial cards and banners for awareness of women’s rights and the strong reservation of the general public and religious organizations, especially JI’s (Jamaat-e-Islami) women’s and student wings, who had also announced a programme against the Aurat March.”

Aurat March organizers had submitted a petition to the LHC, under Article 199 (jurisdiction of high court) of the Constitution, with DC Haider, the Punjab government, Lahore’s capital city police officer and National Commission for Human Rights Punjab member Nadeem Ashraf as respondents.