PHC disposes of petition against Shandur status

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has disposed of a writ petition filed against mentioning Shandur town as a part of Gilgit-Baltistan in textbooks after the government representatives said it had been done by an unintentional mistake.

A two-member PHC bench comprising Justice Naeem Anwar and Justice Ejaz Ahmad Sabi disposed of the petition after hearing arguments from both sides.

The writ had been filed by Shahid Ali Yaftali. He had contended that textbooks had mentioned Shandur as part of Gilgit-Baltistan which had created problems for the local people.

The counsel for the petitioner argued that Shandur is part of Upper Chitral. He said the mistake made in textbooks that mentioned Shandur as part of GB had created problems for the people living there as they had been deprived of jobs and other rights.

The KP government representative appeared in the court and submitted that the mistake in question had been committed unintentionally and had been rectified later.

He said the Upper Chitral deputy commissioner had in his report had also declared Shandur as part of Chitral. The court disposed of the petition after hearing arguments.