PHC stops ECP from proceeding against Gandapur

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday stopped the the Election Commissioner of Pakistan (ECP) from taking action against Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali Shah and Justice Wiqar Ahmad heard the writ petition filed by the chief minister.

The bench issued a notice to the provincial election commissioner to explain the commission’s position.

The court was told that Ali Amin Gandapur had been accused of committing rigging in the February 8 general elections and stuffing the ballot boxes with bogus votes forcibly.

An application containing the allegations against the chief minister was filed in the provincial election commission by his rival candidates, including Kafeel Ahmad, Junaid and Azizullah.

The lawyers representing the chief minister told the bench that the allegations were baseless and unfounded.

They pointed out that election commission had notified Ali Amin Gandapur as the returned candidate, adding that he had been sworn in as the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The lawyers argued that under the election rules, the election commission was not authorized to take action against Ali Amin Gandapur after issuing the notification about his victory in the election.

The counsels for the chief minister requested the court to stop the provincial election commission from taking action against Gandapur.

Meanwhile, a single bench of PHC consisting of Chief Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan granted transit bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Hammad Azhar and stopped the Punjab Police from arresting him.

The court directed the PTI leader to appear before the relevant courts within one month.

The lawyer appearing for the PTI leader told the court that the Punjab Police had registered 51 cases against his client in various districts of the province.

He said the cases were baseless and were registered to harass the PTI leader.

The lawyer said that his client did not know about the exact number of cases registered against him.

During the hearing, the chief justice asked the additional advocate general how much time the petitioner should be given as cases were registered against him in different cities in Punjab. He replied that it was up to the court to decide.