PHC issues notices to chief minister, PTI chief

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday put on notice Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in a writ petition filed by the father of two children killed in the Army Public School attack for seeking relief for his family.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Ijaz Anwar asked the Advocate General Abdul Latif Yousafzai to accept notice on behalf of the respondents and ensure reply in the case.

Tariq Jan, a resident of Charsadda district, had filed the writ petition through his lawyer Naseemullah Khan.

The petitioner stated that his two sons, Shamviel Tariq and Nangial Tariq, were among those martyred in the December 16, 2014 attack. He said that his minor sons were awarded the civil award, Tamgha-e-Shujaat, by the government.

He claimed that on January 14, 2015 the respondents including PTI chief Imran Khan, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, minister for information, speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and Reham Khan, Imran Khan’s former wife, visited his house where the chief minister announced to provide special funds and other facilities for the education of two sisters of the Shaheed brothers, Palwasha Tariq and Mehwish Tariq, in the medical college in the private sector.

Besides, the petitioner claimed that the chief minister in the presence of the PTI chairman had also announced sending all his family members for performance of Hajj. He added that the media had given a wide coverage to the chief minister’s announcement.

The petitioner stated that he approached the office of chief minister time and again for fulfilment of promises made by him and also submitted applications, but to no avail.

He said that on July 28, 2015, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly speaker made correspondence through a letter in the matter, but the respondents started delaying tactics instead of providing funds for the medical education of his two daughters. “My application for provision of funds for my daughters’ education and performance of Hajj was forwarded to the Auqaf and Hajj Department and the Khyber Medical University, but it was rejected,” the petitioner pointed out.

He stated that he was compelled to invoke the jurisdiction of the high court for issuing special directions to the respondents to honour their announcements and commitment made with the parents of the APS martyrs.

In the grounds to the petition, it was stated that presently two daughters of the petitioner had cleared an examination in the private sector and were entitled to be admitted for receiving medical education.

The bench put on notice the respondents and asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general to submit reply within two weeks in the petition.