The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday sought a response from the provincial AAG after the PTI filed an application seeking the appointment of the KP Assembly Speaker to administer the oath to CM-elect Sohail Afridi.
PHC Chief Justice SM Attique Shah asked AAG Sanaullah to confirm whether the KP Governor had received the oath-related summary from the assembly secretariat and directed him to submit a reply by Wednesday.
“Tomorrow we will revisit the matter. Get a response from the governor and let us know,” the judge added.
The development comes after PTI’s Sohail Afridi won the KP Assembly elections for the post of prime minister. KP Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati announced that the three opposition candidates, Maulana Lutfur Rehman of JUI-F, Sardar Shah Jehan Yousaf of PML-N and Arbab Zarak Khan of PPP, did not receive any votes.
KP opposition leader Dr Ibadullah Khan condemned Afridi’s election as “unconstitutional” and opposition lawmakers staged a walkout from the assembly.
Later, in a pre-emptive measure, the PTI approached the provincial high court seeking nomination of KP Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati to administer Afridi’s oath.
An application submitted by the PTI, a copy of which is available with sunrise.commaintained that the KP Governor “was not available to administer oath” to CM-elect Afridi.
“The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial government cannot be allowed to come to a standstill,” he said, calling the administration of the CM-elect’s oath a “matter of great urgency.”
“In view of the above, it is respectfully requested that the Speaker of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly or any other person deemed appropriate may be nominated as the person before whom Sohail Khan Afridi may take oath for the office of Prime Minister.”
The application was filed under Article 255 (Oath of Office) of the Constitution by Swati, MPA Shah Abu Turah and MPA Sher Ali Afridi.
PHC Chief Justice Shah accepted the request late in the afternoon. PTI general secretary Salman Akram Raja appeared as his party’s lawyer.
Separately, addressing the media in Peshawar, PTI’s lawyer Raja said the PHC gave them and Kundi time till tomorrow to “explain their reasons for not wanting to take oath to Sohail Khan Afridi or clarify whether they would do so”.
If the governor refuses, Raja added, then it will be the “legal and constitutional obligation” of the PHC chief justice to order another person to take the oath so that Afridi can officially begin the performance of his duties.
Following Afridi’s election, Naeem Haider Panjutha, a member of PTI founder Imran Khan’s legal team, posted on X that party members had reached the PHC with the request.
Article 129 of the Constitution states that before assuming office, a chief minister must take oath to a governor, who in this case is Kundi.
But Panjutha said the Constitution also authorizes the PHC chief justice to administer the oath if the governor refuses. “In any case, the oath-taking will take place today,” Panjutha said.
On the other hand, President Swati posted on X that he had “formally sent the summary to the Governor of KP for [the] take an oath”.
