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KARACHI, July 21: The Sindh High Court was moved on Monday for the removal of Ghous Bakhsh Khan Mehar as railways minister and Sindh PML(Q) president for violating the Political Parties Order, 2002.
The petitioners, nine office-bearers of the Sindh PML(Q), also seek a direction to relieve Mr Mehar of his party office for contravening Article 145 of the PML(Q) constitution.
In a petition filed through Advocate Shakeel Ahmed, they also request, in the alternative, a writ to the chief election commissioner to declare that Mr Mehar has become disqualified from being a member of the National Assembly.
The petition, which is likely to come up for hearing on Wednesday, says that Section 9 of the Political Parties Order bars holders of elected public offices from holding any party office.
“Where a holder of an elected public office was already holding a party office at the time of his appointment to a public office, he shall relinquish the party office before joining such public office,” says the section.
The president, the prime minister, the Senate chairman or deputy chairman, the speaker or deputy speaker of a house of legislature, provincial governors and chief ministers, federal or provincial ministers or advisers, ministers of state and special assis-
tants have been declared “holders of public offices” for the purpose of the provision.
According to the petition, Article 145 of the PML(Q) constitution, which the party submitted to the election commission at the time of its registration, also forbids its office-bearers from holding a public office simultaneously.
Mr Mehar, it maintains, has rendered himself ineligible to hold party or government offices by violating the law.
HARKAT MAN: A division bench of the Sindh High Court admitted an alleged Harkatul Mujahideen activist to bail on Monday against two sureties of Rs 100,000 each.
Abdul Munim was picked up by police 10 months ago following information furnished by Hafiz Zubair, an activist of Harkatul Mujahideen Al Alami subsequently convicted and sentenced in an case of terrorism.
The detainee’s counsel submitted before a division bench, comprising Justices Ghulam Nabi Soomro and Azizullah M. Memon, that he had been kept in custody without any charge and on mere suspicion.
He had not been produced in a court and was, therefore, entitled to release at least on bail.
NAB DETAINEE: Mohammad Afzal, who was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau for being in possession of a house that belonged to the defunct Alliance Motors and TJ Ibrahim companies, was also ordered to be released on bail by the division bench on Monday.
Appearing for the detainee, Advocate Mohammad Ashraf Kazi submitted that the house Afzal lived in was bought by him with his own funds but in his wife’s name.
According to the NAB, the house actually belonged to Usman, Afzal’s father-in-law, and was purchased by him with deposits made by innocent investors in the rogue companies. The bench granted bail in the sum of Rs 2.5 million.
