PESHAWAR: Baldev Kumar, the minority MPA-elect of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, who is in jail in the murder case of party lawmaker Sardar Soran Singh, will be produced in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday to take oath of his office and cast vote in the Senate elections.

Speaker Asad Qaisar issued his production order following directives of the Peshawar High Court, said an official letter issued by the assembly secretariat.

The court had issued direction on Feb 8 while disposing of a writ petition filed by the detained MPA-elect.

Mr Kumar has been in jail since 2016. He was arrested for being involved in the murder of adviser to the chief minister on minorities Sardar Soran Singh on April 22, 2016.

Banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan had owned responsibility for the killing at that time.

Mr Qaisar said Mr Kumar, who is currently lodged in Buner jail, would be produced in the House on Monday to take oath as member of the assembly. He would be brought again to the assembly to cast his vote in the Senate election scheduled for March 3, he added.

The seat has been lying vacant since the murder of Soran Singh because the ruling party had opposed Mr Kumar taking oath of his office. Soran Singh was elected MPA from Buner in 2013 general elections.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2018