MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Supreme Court on Wednesday fixed for hearing Sardar Tanveer Ilyas’s appeal against his disqualification on Thursday (today) after initially rejecting his appeal on technical grounds while Khawaja Farooq Ahmad has been appointed as acting AJK prime minister.
A full court bench of the AJK High Court on Tuesday disqualified Azad Jammu and Kashmir prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas for contempt of court.
Earlier in the day, an appeal against the decision was rejected by the Chief Justice of AJK, declaring it ‘faulty’ as the appellant was mentioned as Prime Minister.
The Registrar of the court rejected the appeal thrice raising objections and at last when finally objections were removed, the court time was over and the hearing was deferred for Thursday (today).
The appellant raised significant legal questions on the Judgment of the High Court, contending the order was unlawful and prayed the court to declare it null and void.
A separate plea for granting an interim relief has also been filed with the main appeal seeking the court to suspend the high court order till final disposal of the appeal.
Leading lawyer Sardar Abdul Razaq Khan, the counsel for the appellant, said the high court order was without any legal grounds and justifications and was liable to be declared null and void. He said the Election Commission had issued disqualification notification of the Prime Minister without having any lawful authority.
He said a minimum of 2 years imprisonment was required for disqualification of a person from public office while the maximum punishment in the contempt case was six months. He said the court has punished his client without framing a charge and giving him the opportunity of fair trial thus having no legal effects.
Notification of Acting Prime Minister
Meanwhile, a notification in this regard was issued by the President House Muzaffarabad after AJK President Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry signed the summary late on Tuesday.
“The president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, in exercise of powers vested in him under sub-article (1) of Article 17 of the AJK Constitution, is pleased to call upon Khawaja Farooq Ahmed, the most senior minister, to perform functions of the Office of the Prime Minister until a new prime minister has been appointed and elected upon his office,” it said.
According to the notification, Khawaja Farooq Ahmad will remain acting prime minister of the Azad Kashmir till the appointment of new Leader of the House. Mr Ahmad is a veteran politician who is in politics for more than three decades.
Apeal’s Proceedings in SC
During the hearing of the petition against disqualification on Wednesday, AJK Supreme Court Chief Justice Saeed Akram inquired from the petitioner’s lawyer why he wrote ‘Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas’. Write him as former prime minister, the AJK top judge told him off.
The lawyer told the court sheepishly that it should be read and written as former. The judge objected how the court could read what was not written in the text.
“He (Tanveer Ilyas) has been de-notified (by the election commission). This is Supreme Court, it’s not a joke,” Justice Akram rebuked the petitioner’s lawyers.
However, SC Chief Justice Raja Saeed Akram rejected the appeal saying that it was “incompetently worded”. He noted that the plea mentioned Ilyas as the prime minister even though the high court’s order was still holding ground.
After this, the court dismissed former prime minister’s appeal on technical grounds.
The judge asked the lawyers to submit another appeal, “we see whether we will entertain it or not.”
Acting Prime Minister designate, Kh Farooq Ahmad shot to fame after defeating his rival former AJK prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum in the election.
AJK High Court rejected Apology of Tanveer Ilyas
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) High Court on Tuesday rejected the apology of prime minister Ilyas for his statements about the judiciary and disqualified him for contempt of court.
Both the AJK Supreme Court and High Court had summoned the prime minister for the hearing of a suo moto notice taken to seek clarification from him on his statement regarding the judiciary.
The AJK HC full court bench pronouncing its verdict, disqualifying Tanveer Ilyas as a member of the legislative assembly for contempt of court.
Justice Chaudhry Khalid Rasheed read out the judgement of the AJK High Court full bench, sentencing the AJK premier till the rising of the court.
On Monday, the superior courts of AJK had separately served notices on Mr Ilyas to explain his position with regard to his derogatory remarks about the superior judiciary in his speeches at public meetings. The notices, served through his principal secretary, asked Mr Ilyas to separately appear before the high court and the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
At a function in Islamabad over the weekend, Mr Ilyas had indirectly blamed the judiciary for affecting the functioning of his government and interfering in the domain of the executive through the grant of stay orders.
