PHC issues notice to PTI parliamentarian, CEC, university

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday issued notice to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)’s Member of the National Assembly Murad Saeed, chief election commissioner and University of Peshawar administration to submit replies in a writ petition seeking disqualification of the PTI MNA for making false declaration while filing nomination papers for contesting the 2013 general election.
A two-member bench comprising of Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Malik Manzoor Hussain issued notice to the respondents including PTI MNA Murad Saeed, chief election commissioner and registrar and controller of University of Peshawar in the writ petition.
Haider Ali Shah, a voter of the PTI MNA’s constituency NA-29 Swat, had filed the petition through his lawyer S Haziq Ali Shah. The petition stated that by giving a false declaration under Section 12 of the Representation of People’s Act, Murad Saeed failed to qualify to become a lawmaker under Article 62 of the Constitution. The petition argued that Murad Saeed exposed himself to disqualification under Section 99 of the Representation of People’s Act.
The petitioner said the PTI MNA submitted declaration to the Election Commission that neither he nor his family members were in default of any payment of government dues or utility charges including telephone, electricity, gas and water charges of an amount in excess of Rs10,000.
He claimed that when Murad Saeed was a student of Bachelor in Environmental Sciences at the University of Peshawar, he used the varsity’s hostel and defaulted in payment of various dues, including hostel charges, amounting to Rs19,680.
He said the default in payments was from 2007 to 2009 and continued even at the time of submission of his nomination papers for elections.The petitioner requested the court to stop Murad Saeed from functioning as MNA until the petition is disposed of.
He said the MNA had also given false declaration regarding his educational qualification and, therefore, he did not qualify to become a lawmaker. He referred to the controversy about a makeup examination involving Murad Saeed.
He requested the court to declare as illegal the notification of Murad Saeed’s election from NA-29.Meanwhile, the court allowed the PTI MNA to amend his writ petition after his lawyer requested that the petitioner wanted to make amendments in his writ petition for obtaining his degree from Peshawar University.
Murad Saeed’s lawyer requested the court that the petitioner wanted to include two inquiries conducted by the university in his degree case.In his petition, Murad Saeed said he was a regular student of four-year Bachelor of Environmental Sciences programme at the University of Peshawar in the session 2005-09.
He said he had completed all eight semesters and was entitled to have the degree but the university administration hadn’t been issuing him the degree. He termed it an illegal act.The University of Peshawar law officer Aimal Khan and lawyer Waseemuddin Khattak said the university had submitted its comments in the case. They claimed Murad Saeed had failed one paper in the first semester and two in the last semester of his BS degree programme.