PESHAWAR, Aug 15: The Dera Ismail Khan district nazim has moved the Peshawar High Court against a motion of no-confidence tabled against him and has charged the provincial government of making some of the councillors hostage.

The nazim, Muhammad Mukhtar Ahmed Khan, has filed a writ petition challenging the convening of a special session of the council by its secretary on Aug 17 for deciding the impugned motion.

The petitioner has prayed the high court to declare the motion of submitted against him by two members on Aug 11 as illegal and against section 24 of the NWFP Local Government Ordinance, 2001.

He further prayed the court to declare that the notice of convening the special session of the D. I. Khan district council on Aug 17, issued by the secretary of the district council without lawful authority, was in violation of section 24(2) of the ordinance.

The petitioner requested the court to declare that interference by the provincial government in the affairs of the district council of D. I. Khan was improper and unjust. He requested the court to issue appropriate orders/directions to the provincial government to stop interfering in the affairs of the district government for obliging Maulana Lutfur Rehman, younger brother of Leader of the Opposition Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and his other family members.

Mr Mukhtar, whose brother Gulzar Ahmad and two nephews are senators, has also sought interim relief from the court requesting that the notice for convening the special session on Aug 17 may be suspended and respondents be restrained from further proceedings on the motion of recall of Zilla Nazim moved by Abdus Samad (respondent No 6) and seconded by Mushtaq Dar (respondent No 7) till the decision of the writ petition.

The respondents in the petition are: chief election commissioner, D. I. Khan district, and sessions judge, NWFP chief secretary, secretary local government, naib district nazim Haji Abdur Rashid, Abdul Samad, Malik Mushtaq Dar and Maulana Lutfur Rehman.

The petition was filed through senior advocate Qazi Mohammad Anwer. The petitioner stated that last year he had defeated Maulana Obaidur Rehman, brother of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, during the elections of district nazim. He added that another brother of Maulana Fazl, Maulana Lutfur Rehman, was member of the provincial assembly from the constituency of Parora, falling within the limits of District D. I. Khan.

Mr Mukhtar stated that because of their defeat hurdles were created in his path from the very beginning and efforts were made by them that he should not be able to discharge his functions as district nazim.

The district council comprises 66 members, which include 47 union council nazims and 19 other members elected on reserved seats.

The petitioner alleged that one Abdus Samad Khan was influenced by Maulana Lutfur Rehman to table no-confidence motion against the petitioner. He added that on Aug 11 Abdus Samad handed over the motion of no-confidence against the petitioner, which was seconded by Malik Mushtaq Dar, and allegations of general nature had been levelled therein, which was violation of section 24 of the Local Government Ordinance.

The petitioner stated that the involvement of the provincial government headed by Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani could be judged from the press reports published in the newspapers that the provincial government had picked up the members of the council from D. I. Khan and had moved them to Peshawar and then to other districts and had been putting pressure not only on the members but also on their relatives working for the provincial government to compel the members to vote against him.