MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): The High Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Tuesday fixed the hearing of the petition seeking the nullification of Anwarul Haq’s election as Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir.
Chief Justice HC Justice Sadaqat Hussain Raja has constituted a division bench comprising Justice Syed Shahid Bahar and Justice Sardar Ijaz and issued notices to the parties for the hearing of the case on Wednesday, April 16.
Former Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan filed a writ petition in the High Court in October 2024, challenging the AJK PM’s election and seeking the court to declare the election null and void.
The petition alleged that Haq’s election was unconstitutional, citing violations of Article 172 of the Constitution.
Specifically, Raja Farooq Haider maintained that Chaudhry Anwarul Haq did not resign from his position as Speaker of the Assembly before becoming Prime Minister and that he also failed to convene a separate assembly session for the election.
The petition further stated that the process of electing a new Prime Minister should have been completed within three consecutive days after the disqualification of his predecessor, Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan, by the Supreme Court.
The petition raised the point that the AJK premier should have resigned from the post of Speaker before participating in the election of the Prime Minister as a member of the Assembly, but he did not do so.
Anwarul Haq participated in the election of the Prime Minister while retaining the post of Speaker, which is a constitutional violation, the petition stated.
The constitutional petition has requested the court to declare the election of the Prime Minister null and void on grounds of violation of the Constitution so that the Prime Minister can be elected from the Legislative Assembly in accordance with the Constitution.
