PESHAWAR, April 13: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday dismissed a writ petition of Pakistan People's Party (Sherpao) MPA Ghazala Habib Tanoli challenging non- allocation of developmental funds to her by the provincial government.

The court observed that the high court could not interfere in the affairs of the assembly under the constitution. The court ruled that under Article 69 read with Article 127 of the Constitution, the court could not exercise the jurisdiction in connection with an officer or member of the assembly in whom powers were vested by or under the constitution.

The petitioner had claimed that the government had been discriminating against her in the allocation of funds for her constituency PF-57 (Mansehra V). She had requested the court to declare the act of the provincial government unconstitutional and against the law.

In its comments, the provincial government had refuted her claim and stated that she was treated on a par with other MPAs. Advocate Qazi Muhammad Anwer appeared for the petitioner and argued that all MPAs had to be treated equally by the government for allocation of funds. The bench comprised court's Chief Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and Justice Shahjehan Khan.