Status check: K-P parliamentary leaders to file writ petition in PHC

MPAs say the western route is currently just a road and not a corridor

PESHAWAR: Leaders of political groups represented in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly have decided to file a writ petition in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) to determine the status of the western route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Noted lawyer Qazi Anwar has been asked for providing legal expertise in the case, while the K-P’s advocate general and law department have been directed by the K-P Assembly speaker to make preparation for the case in which the federal government will be made a respondent.

The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by the K-P Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser at the provincial assembly on Thursday. Provincial Law Minister Imtiaz Qureshi, Senior Minister Inayatullah Khan, lawyer Qazi Anwar, Advocate General Abdul Latif Yousufzai and MPAs attended the meeting.



Speaking on the occasion, the speaker said the K-P being on the frontline in the war against terrorism had given countless sacrifices.

“If the western route is provided all facilities needed for an economic corridor, the war-torn province will get its benefit,” he said. “No political party is against the project but we want our right. No compromise will be made when it comes to the rights of the province.”

Qazi Anwar advocate called for taking up the issue in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, while, the advocate general said that the petition should be filed in the PHC rather than the apex court.

The participants agreed to the PHC option and it was decided that the petition would be filed by the parliamentary leaders.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28^th, 2016.