MUZAFFARABAD, April 12, 2023: The Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by former prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan against his disqualification after raising objections to it.
He had filed an appeal against a decision of the high court’s full bench regarding his ouster over contempt of court.
During the hearing, Chief Justice Raja Saeed Akram objected to the title of the petition, saying Mr Khan had been mentioned as prime minister in it despite his disqualification. “Why have you addressed him as current PM instead of former in the plea?” the top judge rebuked the legal team of Tanveer Ilyas.
The top judge asked him to come up with a new plea tomorrow (Thursday) after which the court would decide about its maintainability.
On Tuesday, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) High Court disqualified Tanveer Ilyas Khan from holding any public office after he was found guilty of contempt of court. A full bench announced the verdict in a contempt notice taken after he criticised the stay orders issued by court at a public meeting. The former premier had also appeared before the court and tendered his unconditional apology over using contemptuous remarks against the judiciary.
However, the bench turned down his apology and disqualified him as AJK prime minister and revoked his membership of the AJK assembly. He is the first AJK prime minister to have been sent packing by court.
Meanwhile, senior minister Khawaja Farooq Ahmed has been appointed acting prime minister of AJK by President Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry.