PESHAWAR, Oct 1: The Peshawar High Court ruled here on Tuesday that the chief election commissioner “is fully empowered” to check pre-elections rigging by the government functionaries.

A two-member bench of the PHC dismissed a writ petition, accusing the NWFP governor of releasing funds for the schemes recommended by the PML(Q) leader, Iftikhar Gillani, with the direction to the petitioner to approach the CEC.

The bench, comprising Justice Khalida Rachied and Justice Qaim Jan Khan, assured the petitioner, Malik Fida Afridi, that if he could not get any relief from the CEC he would be at liberty to move the high court.

“The chief election commissioner (CEC) is the proper forum of taking cognizance of all sorts of pre-elections rigging,” the bench observed.

Advocate Qazi Mohammad Anwer, appearing for the petitioner, contended that only few days were left for the polls and it would be in the interest of justice if the court issued appropriate directives to the commissioner for checking rigging and to stop the NWFP governor from misusing his position.

Anwer pointed out that Rs45 million were sanctioned for the development schemes in Gillani’s constituency, which would help him in getting votes. He contended that on the one hand funds were not released for the schemes approved by the Kohat district government, on the other, huge funds were released for the sake of an individual.

The court observed that the petitioner instead of seeking court’s directives, should himself approach the commissioner. Moreover, the court observed that the CEC was a constitutional post and he was fully empowered to check rigging.

Anwer contended that the news of filing the instant petition had appeared in all the leading newspapers, but the commissioner had not taken any notice of it. He added that though the CEC had been propagating on television and in newspapers of checking all sorts of rigging, in the instant case he had not taken any action yet.

The petitioner, whose brother is an independent candidate against Gillani on NA-14 (Kohat), said that the federal government in the first week of September released an amount of Rs15bn to the provinces as special package of Khushhal Pakistan Programme and from this amount Rs1.5bn were released to the NWFP.

Afridi alleged that Gillani had recommended schemes, including electrification schemes and also the provisions of transformers and his 49 schemes about electrification would cost Rs14.50m. Other development schemes, he said, submitted by Gillani were to cost about Rs30 million.

He said that the governor accorded the sanction of the schemes, and it was communicated by secretary finance, to the secretary works and services vide letter No. SO(DEV-I)FD/9-1A/2002-2003, dated Sept 19.