No-confidence move: Court restrains speaker from calling AJK assembly session

A full bench of the AJK high court asks govt to submit their response on the petition on July 26.

MUZAFFARABAD:

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir High Court (AJKHC) on Thursday asked the Legislative Assembly Speaker Sardar Ghulam Sadiq not to summon the assembly session in connection with the no-confidence motion till the final decision of a petition filed by five members.

A full bench of the AJK high court, headed by Chief Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal, and comprised of Justice M. Aftab Alvi, Justice Sardar Abdul Hamid Khan, Justice Azhar Salim Babur, Justice Chaudhry Munir and Justice Abdul Rashid Sulehria, asked the government to submit their response on the petition on Friday (July 26).

The court gave the directives after the initial hearing of the petition of five MLAs whose membership was suspended by the Speaker after the submission of no-confidence move against their own Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed.

The petitioner informed the court that the resignations were not submitted by the MLAs themselves.

“The speaker and his team has submitted the five MLAs resignations with fake signature which is ... a violation of the Interim Constitution Act 1974 of Azad Jammu and Kashmir,” the petitioner said.

The full bench also directed the speaker that he cannot receive resignations of the assembly members any more till the final decision of five MLAs petition which is in the court.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) AJK President Raja Farooq Haider and Secretary General Shah Ghulam Qadir met with senior party leaders Raja Zafarul Haq and Ahsan Iqbal to discuss the Azad Kashmir political crisis. Both the leaders have also discussed the no-confidence move against Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majid.

Later Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Birjees Tahir also called Raja Farooq Haider. Source privy to the development told The Express Tribune that Minister Tahir has asked Haider to collect the proofs of PM Majid’s alleged corruption including Jinnah Town Housing Scheme and medical college’s construction.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2013.