PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Saturday suspended the action taken against members of the cabinet of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Secretariat Employees Cooperative Housing Society, including their suspension from service and recovery of official benefits, and issued notices to the respondents seeking their replies.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel heard the writ petition filed through Khalid Rehman advocate. The secretary of the Provincial Assembly, Acting Secretary Waqar Shah and others have been made respondents in the petition.
During the hearing, Advocate Khalid Rehman submitted that the petitioners, including Additional Director PR&M Muhammad Abid Ibrar, were office-bearers and cabinet members of the KP Secretariat Employees Cooperative Housing Society. He said the society was registered under the Cooperative Societies Act, 1925, to provide better residential facilities to provincial assembly employees. He added that land on Warsak Road was identified for the society and an agreement for its establishment was reached in 2024, following which the down payment and other matters related to the land were finalised.
The counsel said that the speaker and secretary of the Provincial Assembly had also become members of the society, while a cabinet was constituted to run its affairs, with Muhammad Abid Ibrar elected as its president.
He argued that the cabinet members had worked for a considerable period to establish the society and resolve issues related to the acquisition of land. However, the acting secretary allegedly started raising objections against them and accused them of purchasing expensive land, financial irregularities and administrative misconduct.
According to the petitioners, around Rs380 million had been collected for the housing society and the agreement could not now be abandoned. They alleged that the secretary was using administrative powers to put pressure on the society’s members.
The counsel said several meetings were held regarding the society’s affairs and a fact-finding committee was also constituted to examine the allegations and other issues. However, on August 24, 2026, the secretary issued a notification initiating action against the cabinet members.
He said the members submitted their resignations, but instead of accepting them, the society was dissolved and the members were suspended from service, with proceedings initiated against them under the Efficiency and Discipline Rules. He argued that the action was contrary to Articles 4 and 10-A of the Constitution.
The counsel prayed the court to declare the notifications and orders issued by the provincial assembly against the petitioners unlawful and set them aside.
