PHOTO: PPI
The Peshawar High Court on Monday restrained the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government from organising the K-P Inter-Regional Youth Games till further orders.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Irshad Qaiser and Justice Muhammad Daud Khan issued the stay order while hearing a petition filed by Pakistan Olympic Association’s K-P chapter’s Secretary General Qamar Zaman.
The petitioner named secretary sports and youth affairs, DG sports, former sports minister Syed Aqil Shah and district sports officers of all the districts in the province as respondents.
Petitioner’s counsel Shumail Ahmad Butt told the court the mega-event’s organising body was not elected through an appropriate legal procedure. Butt added the high court had already declared the elections null and void, yet the provincial government handed over authority to the said association. “The organisers have no legal authority over the provincial games,” he said.
Upon hearing the arguments, the court issued a stay order and restrained the government from organising the games till further directives. It also sought responses of those nominated in the petition.
Security risks
Scheduled for February 16-21, the event had already been postponed after the directorate of sports received a letter from IG special branch revealing security threats. Speaking to the media last Thursday, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Aftab Akbar Durrani said the decision was taken in the best interests of the participants. He added regional associations will now hold the event which might be organised in phases.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 17th, 2015.
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