PHC stops no-trust proceedings against mayor

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday stopped the proceedings of the no-confidence motion against the mayor of Jahangira Tehsil Council in the Nowshera district.

A two-member bench consisting of Justice Ijaz Anwar and Shakeel Ahmad heard the petition of Mayor Kamran Raziq and sought reply from the provincial government, secretary Local Government Department and Tehsil Municipal Administrator, Jahangira. The counsel for the petitioner, Shumail Ahmad Butt Advocate, told the court that his client had polled around 37,000 votes in the local government election on the ticket of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and was elected as the mayor of Jahangira Tehsil Council.

He said many nazims and village council chairmen recently quit the PTI and joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-Parliamentarians (PTI). However, he said that Kamran Raziq was still aligned with the PTI and had been facing pressure to join the PTIP. He said the members of the Tehsil Council submitted a no-confidence motion against the mayor when he refused to join the Pervez Khattak-led party. The lawyer said the petitioner neither faced corruption charges nor committed any other wrongdoing. He contended that the mayor could be removed under Section 81 of the Local Government Act, however, the rules had not been notified yet. After hearing the arguments, the bench directed the respondents to submit their replies at the next hearing.