PHC suspends K-P CM’s advisers, special assistants

Directs govt to file reply; provincial minister says govt to seek legal recourse

PESHAWAR: The three advisers and two special assistants of the provincial chief minister were suspended by a court on Thursday after their appointment was challenged by a petitioner.

The provincial government has been directed to submit its reply regarding their appointment.

This was directed by a two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), comprising Justice Ikram Ullah and Justice Roohul Amin, as it resumed hearing a writ petition filed by former deputy speaker of the provincial assembly Khushdil Khan on Thursday.

Khushdil had challenged the appointment of the Advisers to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, including the adviser on education affairs Ziaullah Khan Bangash and the adviser on energy and power Hamayatullah Khan.

The former deputy speaker had also challenged the appointment of the three special assistants, including the special assistant for industry and commerce Abdul Karim Khan, special assistant on science and information technology Kamran Bangash and the special assistant on the newly merged districts Ajmal Wazir.

Khushdil argued that they had been appointed in contravention to the Constitution.

After hearing the arguments, the court in its order stopped the two advisers and three special assistants from enjoying the privileges and financial benefits attached to their respective positions. The court also directed the provincial government to recover all the emoluments paid to them on account of their alleged illegal appointments.

It is pertinent to mention here that the five advisers and special assistant were elevated to the status of provincial ministers just a few weeks ago. But after legal complications arose, the notification elevating them was withdrawn.

Govt reviewing order

With the court’s order coming just days before the provincial government is due to present its budget for the fiscal year 2019-20, K-P Information Minister Shaukat Ali Yousafzai stated that while they respect the court’s decision, the provincial government was still reviewing the court’s order regarding the suspension of the advisers and special assistants.

Once that review is complete, he said that the government will chart its next course of action.

The information minister added that the court had suspended the appointment of the five senior officials after a question was raised regarding their legality. He said that the government was allowed to appoint five advisers while the government had only appointed three.

“We appointed the advisers and special assistants after consulting with our legal team,” he said, adding that the special assistants were also appointed in line with the provisions in the law.

“Advisers and special assistants are also running matters in other provinces,” the provincial minister said.

“We will knock on the same doors, and will soon file either a review petition or challenge the decision before a larger bench of the PHC or the Supreme Court,” Yousafzai said, adding that they will never take any decision which runs contrary to the Constitution.

Asked about why the government had first granted the advisers and special assistants and then withdrew the notification just days later, the provincial information minister said the notification was withdrawn because it would cause constitutional complications. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2019.