PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday dismissed three separate writ petitions filed by former chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur and KP Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, challenging the administration of oath to members elected on reserved seats by the governor and upheld the status of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf members as independents.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Muhammad Naeem Anwar and Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel heard the petitions.
When the hearing began, the petitioners’ counsel, Bashir Khan Wazir Advocate, did not appear due to illness. His junior lawyer informed the court that the senior counsel was unwell and requested an adjournment. However, the bench decided to proceed with the hearing.
Advocate Babar Yousafzai told the court that the petitions had become infructuous as the members had already taken oath, and Ali Amin Gandapur was no longer the chief minister.
He added that the incumbent chief minister had not challenged the oath-taking process; therefore, the petitions should be dismissed as the Supreme Court had already issued a clear decision on the reserved seats.
Advocate Babar Yousafzai informed the court that the chief justice of Pakistan had nominated the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor to administer oath to members elected on reserved seats, which had already been completed. Therefore, the petitions no longer carried any legal weight. The additional advocate general informed the court that the advocate general was busy and could not appear. The Election Commission of Pakistan’s counsel, Mohsin Kamran, submitted that the Supreme Court had already decided the issue of reserved seats. Justice Naeem Anwar remarked that the court would review the matter once the advocate general appeared.
After a break, when the hearing resumed, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) ’s counsel Aamir Javed informed the court that the PHC had earlier dismissed the Sunni Ittehad Council’s petition on reserved seats, but the Supreme Court overturned that decision.
Later, the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench accepted the review petition, and its order was now in the field, leaving no jurisdiction for the PHC to revisit the matter.
Justice Naeem Anwar inquired about the copy of the Supreme Court’s decision, to which the PMLN lawyer replied that the detailed judgment had not yet been issued but the short order was on the record. He stated that women and minority members elected on reserved seats had already been notified, and they had even participated and cast votes in the Senate elections.
The PMLN lawyer added that two of the petitions challenged the governor’s authority to administer the oath, arguing that the speaker should have done so. However, due to special directions by the chief justice of Pakistan, the governor was authorised to administer the oath. He noted that a similar challenge by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl had already been dismissed by the High Court.
