GB’s caretaker govt challenged in court
GILGIT, Feb 11: Pakistan People`s Party, GilgitBaltistan chapter, has filed a writ petition in the Chief Court challenging the appointment of caretaker chief minister, Sher Jahan Mir, and his 12-member cabinet, and requesting the court to declare the appointments null and void.
The petition argued that appointment of GB caretaker chief minister and his cabinet was an illegal move by the central government, and therefore, the caretaker setup may be restrained from functioning. The petition was filed by PPP member of the GB Council Amjad Hussain Advocate on behalf of PPP regional secretary general Aftab Haider. The respondents in the case are GB Council chairman, (Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif), federal minister for Kashmir affairs and GilgitBaltistan, GB chief election commissioner and GB caretaker chief minister.
The petition stated that under the amended GB Empowerment and Self Governance Order, 2009, GB Council chairman had been given the power to appoint any impartial caretaker chief minster on the recommendation of the outgoing GB chief minister, opposition leader in the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) and federal minister for Kashmir affairs and GB. However, the petitioner claimed that chairman GB Council illegally appointed a publicservant, Sher Jahan Mir, as the caretaker GB chief minister.
It stated that caretaker chief minister was also holding office of the general manager of Karakoram Cooperative Bank Limited (KCBL), which was a government organisation. The petition blamed that the caretaker chief minister was not an impartial person as he held dual offices. Besides, the caretaker CM has also relations with the ruling PML-N, and that his relatives were holding positions in the ruling party.
Moreover, the petition accused GB Council chairman of illegally appointing nine members of the caretaker cabinet without heeding recommendations from the caretaker chief minister. The petitioner claimed that the chairman of the GB Council being head of the ruling PML-N appointed blued eyed 12 members in order to rig the upcoming GBLA elections and get desired results.