The Peshawar High Court recently issued directives to the Charsadda district and sessions judge to ensure that summons were served on former senator of Pakistan Peoples Party, Adnan Khan, so that a writ petition filed by him over six years ago may be decided. Neither Adnan Khan nor his counsel have been appearing before the court so that the pending petition, through which he had challenged his disqualification by the concerned returning officer during the 2009 Senate polls, could be disposed of.

The petitioner, who is son-in-law of Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, was granted interim relief by a bench of the high court in Feb 2009 and permitted to contest those polls. He completed his term on the basis of said stay order and the question regarding his disqualification has yet to be decided.

While the high court has held many hearings in the petition, no noteworthy progress took place mostly because of the petitioner’s counsel who had sought adjournments on most of the occasions on different grounds. On different occasions the high court expressed displeasure over the non-appearance of the petitioner’s counsel and observed that no further adjournments would be allowed. However, the petition continues to linger on.

On Feb 4, when a bench headed by Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel took up the case for hearing, neither the petitioner nor his counsel turned up. The bench was informed that the summons issued to the petitioner remained un-served.

Advocate Qazi Mohammad Anwer, who is representing another candidate in those polls, Ali Gohar, stated that Adnan Khan was a known person in Charsadda district and it was strange that summons could not be served on him. He added that the petitioner had already completed his six-year term on the basis of a stay order.

The bench decided to summon the petitioner through the district judge. It also issued directives that notice should be issued to his counsel on all his available addresses.

The petitioner was only 34 when he had contested the 2009 Senate elections and was elected senator against seats reserved for technocrats.

He was least heard of in PPP circles at that time and it was believed by party leaders that he was awarded ticket because of Pervez Khattak, who was at that time provincial minister in the coalition government of Awami National Party and PPP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Although Mr Khattak was elected as MPA in 2008 general elections on the ticket of Qaumi Watan Party (then called PPP-Sherpao) but he considered it appropriate to join the government while his party was in opposition. Mr Khattak was the proposer of the petitioner Adnan Khan.

Initially, the nomination papers of the petitioner were rejected by the returning officer, who was the joint election commissioner of the province, on Feb 14, 2009. The officer had observed that Mr Adnan did not qualify the definition of a technocrat as he did not possess the experience of 20 years in relevant field as required under Section 2(d) of Conduct of General Elections Order, 2002, for a candidate contesting for the seat of a technocrat.

Justice Jehanzeb Raheem of the high court, who was the appellate tribunal, had dismissed his appeal on Feb 19, 2009 and maintained the order of the returning officer. The judge had observed that Mr Adnan was hardly 34 and had got his master’s degree from Preston University in 2001. He observed that Mr Adnan had mentioned himself as a marketing consultant and keeping in view his 20 years experience he had started the said consultancy at the age of 14 when he had not middle school exams.

The relevant Section 2(d) of the Conduct of General Elections Order, 2002 states that a ‘technocrat’ means a person who is the holder of a degree requiring conclusion of at least 16 years of education recognised by the University Grants Commission or a recognised statutory body: as well as at least 20 years of experience, including a record of achievement at the national or international level.

Mr Adnan had challenged the orders of the returning officer and the appellate authority before the high court in the pending writ petition and also filed an application seeking suspension of the orders. A bench of the high court on Feb 25, 2009 granted him interim relief.

One of the contesting candidates, Ali Gohar, had also filed an appeal before the Supreme Court against the said stay order, but a three-member bench headed by then Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar dismissed it.

Ali Gohar had also filed a petition before the election tribunal after the polls on the same grounds. However, the tribunal had adjourned hearing of the election petition for indefinite period observing that it would be heard after the high court decided the petition.

In his writ petition Mr Adnan contended that the returning officer had not provided him the opportunity of hearing. He also challenged the definition of technocrat as provided in the Conduct of General Elections Order, 2002, stating that when the said Order was promulgated the Constitution of 1973 was held in abeyance and in 2009 it was not applicable to Senate polls.

An expert on constitutional law said that as the petitioner had completed his term, his petition had become infructuous. He believed that if the court decided to continue with hearing of the petition it would either declare that the Conduct of General Election Order, 2002, was not applicable to the 2009 election or it would dismiss his prayer. He was not sure what would be the outcome if the court dismissed his plea as the petitioner was no longer a senator.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2016