PESHAWAR, July 2: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court on Wednesday accepted a writ petition of a union council Nazim, Iftikhar Ali, and declared his removal illegal.

The bench, comprising Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Tallat Qayyum Qureshi, observed that the procedure adopted for the removal of the Nazim of union council Amankot (Nowshera) was not in accordance with the NWFP Local Government Ordinance, 2001.

The court observed that under the procedure the Nazim could be removed by the council through a resolution passed through “secret ballot”, but in the instant case the resolution was passed through a “show of hands.”

The bench declared the notification issued by the DCO Nowshera of his removal illegal.

Lateef Afridi appeared for the petitioner and argued that proper procedure given in the NWFP Local Government Ordinance 2001 was not followed for removing the petitioner from the post of union Nazim.

He claimed that on April 18 some members of the union council passed a resolution against him for removing him from the post. He said that on the same day the DCO issued a notification for his removal without fulfilling the legal requirement. Mr Afridi argued that under section 85(4) of the ordinance a Nazim could be removed only if a resolution is passed by a majority of the members through secret ballot.