PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mohammad Sohail Afridi on Friday moved Peshawar High Court against the notice issued to him by Election Commission of Pakistan accusing him of delivering provocative speech against government functionaries in connection with the by-elections in NA-18 Haripur.

The chief minister filed a petition requesting the high court to declare as illegal and set aside the impugned notice issued to him on Nov 20 by the ECP.

He requested the court to restrain the respondents including the ECP through its secretary, provincial election commissioner of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the district returning officer and the returning officer of NA-19, from taking any adverse action against him in pursuant to the impugned notice.

The petition, filed through advocate Bashir Khan Wazir, states that the impugned notice was wholly illegal and violative of fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 9, 10A, 17 and 25 of the Constitution. The petitioner stated that the impugned notice was issued to the petitioner accusing him of misuse of powers which by itself was a hearsay allegation against the chief minister of the province.

Claims legal requirement not fulfilled under elections law

The petitioner stated that the impugned notice was an act of political engineering and victimisation aimed at favouring certain other candidates and was in clear violation of the mandate of the ECP’s own duty to act as a neutral umpire and provide a level playing field to all the candidates.

He contended that section 234 of the Elections Act spoke of ‘repeated violations’ by the contesting candidate and there was not a single prior such violation established against the petitioner.

The petitioner stated that as per section 234 of the Elections Act, even on a second/repeated alleged violation, the law required mandatory steps including conducting summary inquiry and passing of order by the district monitoring officer (DMO), right of aggrieved candidate to file an appeal against that order within three days before the ECP. He added that even after passing the first order the DMO may refer the matter to the ECP for further proceedings.

Astonishingly, the petitioner contended, without fulfilling the legal requirements the ECP issued the impugned notice to the petitioner on an exaggerated media reports.

The petitioner further stated that in the present case section 234 was not even applicable as neither any summary inquiry had been conducted by the DMO Haripur nor any order was issued by him.

The chief minister stated that he has consistently raised voice for upholding rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution and against policies of the federal and Punjab governments, perceiving those detrimental to the interest of the people of Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He stated that being the chief minister of the province he visited different regions and also addressed people there to redress their grievances. He added that on the basis of addressing people, no notice could be issued to him by the ECP.

Meanwhile, the candidate backed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Shehrnaz Omar Ayub, also filed a petition against the issuance of notice to her by the ECP for alleged violation of the election code of conduct. The petitioner requested the high court to set aside the impugned notice issued to her by the ECP on Nov 20.

The petitioner stated that she was contesting candidate in the by-election for which polling was scheduled for Nov 23. She stated that when only three days were left to polls the ECP in an illegal manner issued the impugned notice to her, which was based on hearsay and misinformation.

Lawyer calls ECP notice into question

Counsel for KhyberPakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Friday called into question a notice issued by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to Afridi over alleged violation of code of conduct.

As a four-member bench of the ECP headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja took up the case against KP Chief Minister and contesting candidate from NA-18 (Haripur) Shehrnaz Ayub, Afridi’s counsel Ali Bokhari informed the bench that the DRO had also issued a notice to the chief minister.

When member of ECP from KP remarked that how the man who did not appear before the ECP bench would turn up at the DRO office, Mr Bokhari took exception to the remarks and wondered if his client would get justice.

Raising question over the legal basis for the notice, he pointed out that KP chief minister had addressed a rally in Havelian, district Abbotabad, and not in Haripur district where by-election is to take place.

ECP secretary Omar Hamid Khan said the chief minister addressed rallies in Chamba and Haveliyan, which are at the border of the constituency.

“The KP chief minister intimidated election staff. The candidate from the constituency, Shehrnaz Omar Ayub, is equally responsible,” the ECP secretary said. Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja also said “we know Havelian is in Abbotabad”.

Pointing out that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has announced a Rs3 billion hospital in adjoining Hasan Abdaal and said a notice should also be issued to her, as has been issued to KP CM.

“Today, we have also issued a notice to a federal minister for violation of the code of conduct,” said the CEC.

The hearing was adjourned and fixed for hearing on November 25. — Iftikhar A. Khan in Islamabad also contributed to the report

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2025