In a major setback to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) High Court on Tuesday disqualified Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir Sardar Tanveer Ilyas for contempt of court.
The decision of the high court comes after Ilyas was summoned to AJK’s supreme court and high court for using a “threatening tone” in one of his speeches.
The court declared Ilyas ineligible from holding any public office and asked AJK’s Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Abdul Rasheed Sulehria to hold polls for a new prime minister.
Earlier, PM Ilyas appeared before the high court where he was welcomed by members of the PTI.
A full bench, led by Justice Sadaqat Hussain Raja, conducted the hearing of the case. During the hearing, the clips featuring the prime minister were played.
AJK PM Ilyas gave an unconditional apology to the court, saying “I apologise unconditionally if any of my words hurt the judge.”
The AJK premier was sentenced till the rising of the court.
The full bench of the AJK High Court summoned Ilyas today in a contempt notice taken on his speech at a public meeting.
An order was issued by a two-member bench on a newspaper clipping citing the speech of the prime minister. The bench stated that the decision was taken in a meeting of the judges where the issue was discussed at a considerable length and all of them noted that the overall conduct of the prime minister was contemptuous.
The high court registrar had been directed to issue a notice to the AJK prime minister through his principal secretary to appear in person before the court today and explain his position. The registrar had also been directed to fix the matter before the full bench.
Ilyas, a day earlier, had criticised the stay orders issued by the courts and said the practice was affecting the performance of the government. The stay orders were a temporary order that must be decided within days but they lingered for years, he added.
