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Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
PHC orders reserved seats reallocation
Listen to article The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday annulled the distribution of reserved seats in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly and ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to redistribute the seats after hearing the parties. A two-member bench, comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Dr Khurshid Iqbal, announced the reserved judgment on the petition of the PML-N against the distribution of reserved seats. In its two-page judgment, the court declared null and void both the announcements of the ECP regarding the allocation of reserved seats for women and minorities. It said the ECP should reallocate these seats after hearing all candidates and political parties within 10 days. The court delayed the oath-taking of the lawmakers on the reserved seats until the ECP decision. The court also ruled that ECP's deadline for the independent candidates to join any political party in the provincial assembly by February 22, 2024, was unconstitutional. The K-P Assembly comprises 124 lawmakers – 99 elected on general seats, besides 21 reserved seats for women and four reserved seats for non-Muslims. The reserved seats are allocated only to the political parties in the house based on their strength. After the general elections on February 8, 2024 the ECP allocated the reserved seats to the political parties, excluding the independents, who were PTI-backed, and formed majority in the house. However, the matter dragged for over a year in the courts, until it was settled in the Supreme Court recently. The PHC ruling directed the ECP to redistribute these seats after hearing the PML-N, the JUI-F, the PPP, the ANP and the PTI-Parliamentarians. Earlier, during the hearing, ECP Special Secretary Law Muhammad Arshad, ECP lawyer Mohsin Kamran, PML-N lawyer Aamir Javed and Barrister Saqib Raza, JUI lawyer Naveed Akhtar and Farooq Afridi appeared in the court. The petitioner's lawyer argued that the ECP counted six PML-N members – five elected on general seats and one independent joining the party within three days of stipulated time – and distributed the reserved seats, accordingly, through a notification issued on February 22, 2024. However, he continued, notifications of the election victories of some candidates were still pending by that time. He added that the notification of Malik Tariq Awan's victory was issued on February 22, who joined the PML-N on February 23 – well within the three days of timeframe. This raised the PML-N's strength in the house to seven, the lawyer told the court. Similarly, he added, the ECP issued a separate notification for allocation of reserved seats for minorities on March 4 and again the PML-N's six seats were counted, as Awan was declared an independent. As per the distribution, lawyer stated, one minority seat was given to the JUI, one to the PML-N and one to the PPP, while one seat was left vacant, which would have been decided through tossing of the coin. He added that the party moved the ECP and claimed that it had seven seats in the house. Overall, lawyer Aamir Javed told the court, the ECP gave 10 reserved seats to the JUI based on its seven general seats in the assembly, while the PML-N was given eight reserved seats on the strength of seven general seats, by counting its six seats. The petitioner's lawyer said that the party did not want postponement of the Senate elections which was due later this month. He requested that if the court wanted to send the matter to the ECP, then the election supervisor should be bound to decide the matter within three days. When asked by Justice Ali as to how the ECP could distribute the seats when the process was not complete, the ECP special secretary said that the assembly session had to be held 21 days after the election. He added that ECP allocated the seats based on the party positions on February 22, 2024. The JUI lawyer took the position that the party whose seats were challenged should be made a party to the case. Naveed Advocate said that JUI was not party and he was representing Gujral Singh, who was elected on a reserved seats. After hearing the matter, the court reserved its ruling, which was announced later in the day. The court also annulled the notification regarding Gujral Singh, dated March 26, 2024.
Express Tribune
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Court restores powers to local representatives
The Peshawar High Court has nullified amendments made by the provincial government to the Local Government Ordinance that reduced the powers and funding of elected local representatives. The court accepted petitions challenging the changes and declared the provincial government's amendments unconstitutional. A two-member bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Farah Jamshed presided over the case. The petitions were filed by Humayun Mayar, Zubair Ali, and others, and were argued by Advocate Babar Khan Yousafzai. During the hearing, Yousafzai informed the court that local government elections were held in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in February 2022, after which the newly elected representatives took oath and began performing their duties. However, the provincial government soon initiated efforts to curtail their authority and, later that year, amended the Local Government Act. Yousafzai argued that these amendments significantly rolled back the powers of elected local bodies and stripped them of their authority to allocate and utilize development funds. These powers were instead transferred to the district administration and other government departments. He pointed out that the majority of seats in the first phase of elections were won by opposition parties, prompting the government to tighten its control by changing the law. The lawyer further contended that by shifting most powers from the Act to the Rules, the government bypassed legal safeguards. Specifically, amendments were made to Sections 23A and 25 of the Local Government Act, altering the composition of the Tehsil Local Government structure originally defined in the 2019 version of the law. He emphasized that the 2022 amendments not only took away powers from local representatives such as Tehsil Mayors and Village Council members, but also deprived them of any developmental funds for the past three years. This, he noted, had created a situation of uncertainty and pressure, as representatives face public expectations without any resources to meet them. Yousafzai argued that if such amendments were deemed necessary, they should have been applied prospectively, during future elections, rather than retroactively undermining the authority of currently elected officials under the 2019 Act. In response, the Additional Advocate General contended that the amendments were lawful and within the authority of the provincial government. He claimed the changes were presented before the provincial assembly and that the elected representatives had been granted their due rights. After reviewing the arguments, the bench declared the provincial government's amendments invalid, restoring the original powers and funding mechanisms for local government representatives as per the 2019 Local Government Act.
Express Tribune
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
PHC slaps Rs10k fine on PDA for failing to present legal counsel
The Peshawar High Court has imposed a fine of Rs10,000 on the Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) for failing to present legal counsel during a hearing on a petition challenging the non-allotment of residential plots to employees of the Local Government and PDA. The case was heard by Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Faheem Wali. During the proceedings, no lawyer appeared on behalf of the PDA. The court was informed that the lawyer previously assigned to the case had been removed from PDA's legal panel. Representing the petitioners, Advocate Mumtaz Ahmed informed the court that his clients are employees of the PDA and Local Government, and as per court rulings and official regulations, they are entitled to plot allotments. However, the PDA has yet to allocate these plots. A PDA representative explained that the absence of legal counsel was due to the fact that a new legal panel had not yet been constituted. Seeking more time, the official requested a delay. In response, Justice Arshad Ali remarked, "Are we here to wait for your panel decisions? You create panels at will and dissolve them at will. We are imposing a penalty and giving you one last opportunity." The court subsequently fined the PDA Rs10,000 for failing to present a lawyer and ordered the authority to ensure legal representation at the next hearing. On the other hand, PHC has ordered the issuance of Pakistan Origin Cards (POCs) to two Afghan nationals married to Pakistani women, upon fulfillment of all necessary legal requirements. The court disposed of the writ petition after passing the directive. The case was heard by a two-member bench.
Express Tribune
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Court clears way for SNC textbooks
The Peshawar High Court has dismissed a writ petition filed by local publishers, effectively lifting a long-standing stay order and allowing the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Textbook Board (KPTBB) to proceed with the adoption and printing of textbooks aligned with the Single National Curriculum (SNC) for classes IX to XII. The verdict was delivered by a Division Bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Fahim Wali, who upheld the K-P government's decision to adopt textbooks developed under the supervision of the National Curriculum Council (NCC), Islamabad. The writ petition, filed earlier this year by various local publishers, challenged the Provincial Cabinet's decision dated January 20, 2025, which approved the adoption of NCC-supplied textbooks. The government had argued that the move would promote uniformity in education standards across the country and yield significant financial savings — estimated at Rs600 million annually — in royalties otherwise payable to local publishers. The petitioners, represented by Advocate Jehanzeb Mehsud, contended that the government's decision undermined fair competition and violated the K-P Textbook Policy 2017. He argued that the policy requires textbooks to be procured through open advertisements and private publishers, and noted that other provinces had not followed the same route. He further claimed that the government's profit-sharing arrangement with NCC-approved publishers raised legal and ethical concerns. Representing the TBB, Advocate Shumail Ahmad Butt refuted these claims, explaining that the development of textbooks by the NCC began in September 2023 through a nationwide, transparent process. Publishers from across Pakistan were invited to submit manuscripts, which were reviewed and shortlisted based on quality and adherence to the SNC. Butt pointed out that Clause 3.2A of the 2017 Policy explicitly empowers the government to acquire manuscripts from alternative sources free of cost, bypassing the standard royalty-based procurement process. He stressed that this alternative model ensures quality, maintains regulatory oversight, and results in substantial financial savings without breaching any legal provisions. He further argued that local publishers, having avoided national-level competition, were now attempting to derail a merit-based process through litigation. Additionally, he highlighted that the post-26th Amendment legal framework limits judicial interference in federally-coordinated curriculum decisions and emphasized that provincial bodies, including the Directorate of Curriculum and Teacher Education (DCTE), retain full authority to modify the content as needed for regional contexts. After extensive arguments from both sides, the court ruled in favor of the government and TBB, paving the way for the printing and distribution of SNC-compliant textbooks in K-P.
Express Tribune
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
PHC moved against advance schools fee
A writ petition has been filed in Peshawar High Court (PHC) to stop private schools in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) from collecting summer vacations fee in advance and various types of fees from the students, including promotion fees. A two-member PHC bench comprising Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Khurshid Iqbal took up the writ petition for hearing filed by Abbas Khan Sangeen advocate. He made the chief minister, chief secretary, Education secretary and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Private School Regulatory Authority (PSRA) as respondents in the petition. The petitioner argued that the collection of admission, examination, promotion and other capitation fees have been declared illegal under the PHC verdict in 2021 and subsequent notifications issued by the PSRA. Furthermore, the schools are bound to give 20 percent concession to one of the two siblings enrolled in a same school, however, educational institutions across the province are not implementing the rules despite orders and repeated notifications from PSRA,. The petitioner submitted that various educational institutions are fleecing the parents of school going children, requesting the court to ensure implementation on the PHC orders and PSRA Regulations 2018. He also requested the court to issue order for refund of amount charged in an account of capitation fees, adding the schools be barred from charging fee in advance as some school are demanding advance fee ahead of summer vacations. The court after hearing the arguments issued a notice to the concerned authority and sought a response.
