SWABI: The ousted nazim of Swabi tehsil, Wahid Shah, and his deputy Gohar Khan said here on Thursday that they would file a writ petition in Peshawar High Court against their removal through a no confidence motion.

Talking to journalists, they claimed that the no confidence motion was illegal and in violation of the rules and regulations of the local government system. They said that their first objection was as to why the session of the council for no confidence motion was started before their arrival to the house and why Gohar Khan, the convener of the council, was not allowed to preside over the session.

Wahid Shah said that a flagrant violation of the rules was presence of woman councillor Tabassum in the session. “I could share with you the resignation she tendered on August 7. Her resignation was presented in the house on August 28 and finally confirmed,” said Mr Shah.

He said that they sent her resignation to tehsil municipal officer. “We have the entire record, which would be presented in the high court,” he added.

Term no-trust motion for their removal illegal

To a question, both Mr Shah and Mr Khan said that they had already contacted senior advocates Latif Afridi and Qazi Anwar while the legal experts of Awami National Party had prepared the case.

Meanwhile, sources said that Jamaat-i-Islami and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf formed an alliance in Swabi tehsil. Under the new arrangements, the slot of tehsil nazim would be given to JI while the naib-nazim would be from PTI, they added.

They said that all the other members of the tehsil council, who supported the no confidence motion, would be accommodated to end disunity in the house. However, PML-N member Rashid Sohail, who presided over the no confidence session of the council, when contacted, said that earlier they were only agreed on one-point that was to remove the tehsil nazim and naib nazim.

“It is a number game. The group, who has more members, would elect its candidates as tehsil nazim and naib nazim,” he said.

He said that PPP, PML-N and JUI-F were already part of Swabi Democratic Alliance. “Now it would be seen that SDA would remain intact or this was the end of the seven parties’ alliance,” he said.

However, other members, when contacted, said that it was clear that tehsil nazim would be from JI.

WASTE: The offal of the sacrificial animals are still lying in various areas, causing nuisance to the local people.

The local people said that tehsil municipal administration only covered the district headquarters and all the remaining areas were left out. They said that they were hoping that TMA staff would pick both offal and waste of animals.

Asif Khan, a resident of Naro Kallay, said that it was responsibility of TMA to pick up offal and waste of animals from all the areas. “We also pay taxes and we have the right to get a clean environment,” he added.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2017