PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday halted the disqualification proceedings initiated by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur.
Notices were issued to the concerned parties, and their responses were summoned by the court. A bench of the high court, presided over by Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Waqar Ahmed, deliberated on the petition.
Justice Ijaz Anwar clarified that the proceedings had not commenced; only notices had been served. Justice Waqar inquired whether the matter was already under consideration by the election commission.
The court observed that no institution has been granted authority to declare an individual as 'truthful' or 'trustworthy' following the verdict of the Supreme Court.
Last week, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) accepted a petition requesting the disqualification of Ali Amin Gandapur and scheduled a hearing. The ECP instructed the chief minister to appear before the District Election Commissioner on March 26.
In a brief order, a two-member bench of the ECP noted that Ali Amin Gandapur had failed to disclose his assets to the commission.
The petition alleged that Ali Amin Gandapur had unlawfully acquired 735 kanals of land in Dera Ismail Khan and transferred it to his name. It argued that he is ineligible to hold public office and should be disqualified and removed from the KP Assembly for providing false information.
