Setting aside Sayyed’s externment order in March, Justice Jamadar said it “infringes upon his fundamental rights” and “cannot be sustained”. On July 2, quashing the externment of Choudhary, the judge observed if by targeting citizens for opposing government decisions, they were being turned into “slaves of the government”. The “soul remained the same” of the PFI and SDPI, the government said. Justice Jamdar, however, pointed out that the show-cause notice preceding externment orders did not mention this allegation, and said it could not be considered hence in the present pleas. We don’t have Raj-shahi (rule of the king),” he says, adding that actions such as externment may deter future protests.