PHC dismisses petition against KP governor

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday dismissed a writ petition filed against the appointment of Iqbal Zafar Jhagra as Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after his lawyer stated that he was not holding the office of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) central general secretary.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Roohul Amin Khan and Justice Qalandar Ali Khan dismissed the writ petition with the observation that no notification was produced in the court on the basis of which the petitioner had claimed that Iqbal Zafar Jhagra was central general secretary of PML-N.

The bench observed that the court could not consider the newspapers' statements as evidence. It noted that there should be proper notification about appointing someone as an important office-bearer of a political party.

On the other hand, Haziq Ali Shah, counsel for the governor, appeared in the court in private capacity. He stated at the bar that the governor was not holding the office of central general secretary.

He prayed the court to dismiss the writ petition as the petitioner didn't possess any notification on the basis of which he could claim that the respondent governor was holding two offices at the same time. Additional Attorney General of Pakistan, Manzoor Khalil Khan, also appeared in the case and submitted that the governor had no dual office. He prayed the court to dismiss the petition.

Senior lawyer Muhammad Khurshid Khan had challenged the appointment of the governor in the high court. He had claimed the PML-N had recently appointed Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra as the party's central general secretary.

He had submitted that the governor, being a representative of the federal government, was getting salary, perks and privileges. The lawyer argued that under the law and Article 101 of the Constitution, the governor cannot hold an office of a political party and run its affairs.