PHC again returns petition for Gandapur’s removal

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC), registrar office, on Saturday once again returned the petition seeking disqualification of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on technical grounds.

The petition, filed by Advocate Syed Azizuddin Kakakhel, had previously been dismissed with objections on technical grounds.

In the fresh plea, the petitioner addressed the court’s earlier objections, but the registrar office maintained its stance and again returned it by arguing that the high court was not the proper forum to oust the chief minister.

The petition had named the federal and provincial governments, as well as the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as respondents.

Azizuddin argued that the chief minister violated election laws and the Constitution by utilizing public funds and resources for staging political rallies.

He recalled that Gandapur recently led a rally against the federal government, which the petitioner believed, had breached the oath of office that mandated loyalty to the Constitution and law.

The petition requested the court to disqualify the chief minister under Article 62 of the Constitution, citing the misuse of public funds and Gandapur’s continuous violation of his constitutional oath.

However, the PHC registrar maintained that the Constitution provided a proper procedure for the removal of the chief minister and the high court was not the appropriate forum to seek his removal from office. As a result, the petition was returned once again.