PHC orders to inquire about Governor’s availability to administer CM’s oath

Peshawar: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has ordered to inquire about the availability of the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to administer the oath to the newly elected Chief Minister.

Chief Justice SM Atiq Shah heard the petition filed to administer the oath to the newly elected Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sohail Afridi, the court issued a written order for the hearing.

The court ordered that the Additional Attorney General should inquire about the availability of the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and to inform the court before 1:00pm tomorrow to administer the oath to the newly elected Chief Minister.

The order states that the petition was filed by the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly and other members of the assembly under Article 255, and the petition requested that the Speaker or someone else be nominated to administer the oath.

According to the order, according to the petitioner's lawyer, Ali Amin Gandapur sent his resignation to the Governor. According to the petitioner, Sohail Afridi was elected Chief Minister on the October 13, other members of the opposition parties also submitted their nomination papers as per the schedule.

The written order states that the schedule was issued on October 12 and all the candidates were checked. The opposition leader objected to the election, the speaker rejected the objection and passed the rolling. The Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has expressed unavailability to take the oath.

According to the court order, further delay in the oath is to prevent the province from governance. The Additional Attorney General drew attention to Article 255(2), according to the Additional Attorney General, 255(2) cannot be processed because the Governor is in Pakistan and he will be available on October 15.