Being member of election tribunal: PHC judge recuses from hearing MPA’s petition

PESHAWAR: Justice Wiqar Ahmad of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday recused himself from hearing the petition of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) leader Akram Khan Durrani against decision of the election tribunal for being its member.

The PHC directed the Office of the Registrar, PHC, to place the writ petition of Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Akram Khan Durrani before another bench.

PHC chief justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim issued the directives while hearing the petition of JUIF leader Akram Khan Durrani, who had moved the high court against the decision of an election tribunal.

A two-member PHC bench comprising Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Wiqar Ahmad heard the petition.

During the course of hearing, Justice Wiqar Ahmad said that he was a member of the election tribunal, therefore, he could not hear the case of the JUIF leader, who had challenged a decision of the election tribunal.

The bench directed the Registrar of the PHC to place the petition of the JUIF leader before another bench.

At the start of the hearing, the chief justice remarked that it was unfortunate that the high court had to hear cases of political nature instead of the ones filed by the poor litigants seeking justice.

He said the high court was hearing the cases of the political nature while the petitions of the poor people had been pending for years.

The chief justice said the high court had set a parameter under which the petitions filed in 2015 were supposed to be decided by the end of 2024.