Peshawar High Court(PHC) ordered the Additional Advocate General to inform the court regarding the schedule of the Governor by 1:00 pm and issued an order that the speaker may take the oath from the Chief Minister in the absence of Governor.
The Peshawar High Court today issued an order on a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against the non-administration of the oath, which said that if the governor is not available, the speaker or someone else should be nominated to take the oath. Sohail Afridi was elected leader of the house in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly session held on Monday. During the session chaired by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, 90 members of the assembly voted in favor of Sohail Afridi, while the opposition members boycotted the election process, calling it unconstitutional, and walked out of the house in protest.
Meanwhile, the PTI approached the Peshawar High Court over the failure of the newly elected Chief Minister to take the oath. Lawyer Salman Akram Raja argued before the court that ‘the governor is outside the province, the province cannot remain without a government for two days, the oath is necessary.’ Chief Justice Peshawar High Court said that ‘the governor’s opinion is necessary in this matter, the court will wait for the governor’s explanation till tomorrow.’ Meanwhile, Speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Babar Saleem Swati sent a summary of Sohail Afridi’s victory to the Governor’s House. The summary said that ‘the process of electing the Chief Minister has been completed, the newly elected Chief Minister Sohail Afridi received 90 votes, he should be sworn in according to the constitution and law.’
However, the Governor’s House has taken the position that since the matter is under hearing in the court, the court will also make the decision. Later, the Peshawar High Court issued a written order on the issue of the non-administration of the oath of office of the newly elected Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sohail Afridi, directing the Additional Advocate General to immediately inform about the availability of Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Faisal Karim Kundi.
According to the written order, the court has directed the Additional Advocate General to inform the court by 1 pm today whether Governor Sohail Afridi is available to administer the oath or not. The court has clarified in its order that if the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not available, the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly or any other authorized person should be nominated to administer the oath.
