Plea Seeking Sohail Afridi’s Disqualification Declared Ineffective; Federal Constitutional Court Disposes of the Case Following KP Emergency Proclamation
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court has officially dismissed the petition filed for disqualification of Sohail Afridi, stating that the matter would be of no effect due to recent administration’s activities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
The hearings were conducted before a bench of Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan and Justice Baqar Najafi and the court stated that after the emergency rule and Governor’s Rule set into force, Afridi is no longer holding office and hence the petition is just academic.
The Court’s key findings and comments:
Judicial Remarks on Case Status: Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan said that the writ petition filed against the former chief minister has become of no practical value after the Governor’s Rule. The court further stated that if Sohail Afridi gets his job in the future, petitioner Sher Afzal Marwat can refile his petition through a miscellaneous application.
Petitioner Sher Afzal Marwat stated that he wanted to challenge the imposition of emergency and Governor’s Rule directly in the hearing and asked for a brief adjournment. The legality of the emergency is a separate legal issue and disqualification case against Afridi is no longer an active legal dispute, Justice Baqar Najafi said.
The original petition had pleaded for the judiciary to nullify the forced resignation of Ali Amin Gandapur and the subsequent appointment of Sohail Afridi as the Chief Minister as unconstitutional and requested the reinstatement of Gandapur as Chief Minister. The top court stopped its proceedings in a formal manner with the takeover of the executive.