ABBOTTABAD: Abbottabad Circuit bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday disposed of a writ petition challenging the election of the governing body of Idara Tadrees-ul-Quran orphanage and issued an extensive set of binding directives aimed at strengthening oversight, transparency and child welfare standards in orphanages across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
A division bench comprising Justice Sadiq Ali and Justice Syed Muddasir Ameer heard the petition filed by Ghulam Mustafa Khan Jadoon, who had sought to have the election of the orphanage’s chairman declared illegal and void.
In its judgment, the PHC held that the petitioner had failed to establish any legal grievance warranting the exercise of constitutional jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution. The bench noted that the petitioner had not applied for membership of the orphanage’s general body despite public advertisements issued prior to the election and, therefore, lacked the requisite locus standi.
Justice Sadiq Ali observed that the petitioner neither demonstrated a violation of any statutory provision nor proved that the respondents had acted beyond their lawful authority. The judgment relied on several Supreme Court precedents highlighting the strict legal requirements governing writ petitions, writs of mandamus, and public interest litigation.
The bench also took serious exception to allegations leveled by one of the respondents against the petitioner’s counsel, Sardar Aman Khan and Shabnam Nawaz. Terming the allegations “baseless, unfounded, and motivated,” the bench ordered the offending paragraphs to be expunged from the record, observing that such assertions undermine the dignity of the legal profession and amount to an abuse of judicial proceedings.
While disposing of the petition, the court went beyond the immediate electoral dispute and issued wide-ranging suo motu directions to address systemic deficiencies in the functioning of orphanages and to safeguard the rights of orphaned children.
The court directed that orphanages shall not confine children to sub-standard or symbolic vocational training and must adopt a structured educational framework enabling children to progress from primary education to university level to ensure long-term self-reliance.
The orphanage was ordered to have its accounts for the last ten years audited by a reputable audit firm and to submit quarterly audit reports to the Social Welfare Department. It was further directed to maintain comprehensive and up-to-date records of all resident children, with enhanced safeguards for data relating to girls, to be inspected on a quarterly basis.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was directed to consider the establishment of an annual endowment fund to ensure the financial sustainability of the orphanage.The court also ordered NADRA to facilitate the dignified and simplified issuance of Form-B and CNICs to all eligible orphaned children.
Additionally, the Deputy Commissioner Abbottabad was directed to conduct monthly visits to the orphanage, while the Secretary Health was instructed to arrange monthly medical camps, including psychiatric and mental health services.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general and the Secretary Social Welfare were tasked with examining possible legal amendments to secure scholarships and reserved admissions for orphans in private educational institutions.
