SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)
A Peshawar High Court bench on Wednesday issued notices to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and Speaker of the provincial Assembly Asad Qaisar asking them to respond to a petition, which seeks their disqualification for joining the civil disobedience movement launched by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.
After holding preliminary hearing, Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Ikramullah Khan adjourned hearing into PHC Bar Association secretary general Mohammad Ayaz Khan’s petition, which also sought the court orders for stopping Khattak and Qaisar from continuing in their respective offices until the case was disposed of.
Next hearing into the case will be fixed later.
The petitioner said while taking oath of the office, the chief minister had sworn that he would discharge his duties in accordance with the Constitution and the law and in the interest of the sovereignty, integrity, solidarity and prosperity of the country.
He said the chief minister had also sworn that he would preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.
Lawyer moves court against CM, PA speaker for joining civil disobedience drive
“PTI chairman Imran Khan had announced the start of the civil disobedience movement in the country and the next day, the chief minister endorsed that statement and therefore, he had violated his oath of office as well as his obligations under the Constitution,” he said.
The petitioner said the chief minister had been heading a federating unit and he had to abide by the Constitution.
He said the speaker of the provincial assembly, too, had taken oath under the Constitution swearing that he would preserve and protect the constitution but by joining the civil disobedience movement, he had violated his oath.
The petitioner requested the court to declare that the chief minister and speaker having violated their oath of office and the Constitution, stand disqualified to hold their respective offices and are no longer eligible to occupy the same.
The respondents in the petition are the chief minister, the speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and provincial government through the chief secretary.
The petitioner said amid the ongoing constitutional crisis between the PTI and the PML-N federal government, the former had staged an anti-government sit-in in front of Parliament House and various other important buildings, including the Supreme Court, mainly demanding resignation of the prime minister and Punjab chief minister.
He said in order to effectuate its demands, the PTI and its leadership had become so desperate that it
had publicly persuaded and pronounced the civil disobedience movement asking the people, including that of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to abstain from paying utility bills and taxes.
The petitioner said the chief minister and the Assembly speaker were the PTI members and that they had not only been participating in the ongoing sit-in but had been effectively advocating the notion of civil disobedience.
He said as if that was not enough, the PTI members, including the chief minister and the speaker, had illegally taken over and attacked parliament house and the Pakistan Television building in Islamabad.
pakistan.shafaqna.com
