Gandapur challenges ECP’s notice in high court

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur on Friday moved Peshawar High Court against a fresh notice issued to him by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) seeking clarification about one of his properties.

He filed a petition through lawyer Bashir Khan Wazir requesting the high court to declare the impugned notice issued by the ECP on Nov 20, 2024, as illegal, unconstitutional and against provisions of Elections Act, 2017.

He also sought declaration of the court that the impugned notice was issued in a mala fide manner and was based on political victimisation.

In the impugned notice issued to Mr Gandapur, the ECP had asked him to provide clarification/justification within 15 days about a land measuring 735 kanals and 12 marlas, which he had declared sold in his statements of assets and liabilities submitted by him to the commission for the year ending June 30, 2024.

Sees political victimisation behind issuance of notice

He was asked to share the ownership documents and sale deed of the said land with the commission.

Earlier, the ECP had issued notice to Mr Gandapur on April 28 after taking cognizance in respect to his statement of assets and liabilities for the fiscal year 2022-23 and the nomination papers for contesting the 2024 general elections from PK-113 Dera Ismail Khan. He was asked to appear before the commission on April 30.

However, Mr Gandapur had challenged that notice also in the high court, which had granted interim relief to him by suspending the said notice.

The earlier petition has still been pending before the high court.

The respondents in the present petition are the chief election commissioner, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial election commissioner, DI Khan’s regional election commissioner and its district election commissioner.

In the petitioner, Mr Gandapur stated that he contested the Feb 8 election from PK-113 constituency and was declared a returned candidate before being elected by the assembly as the chief minister of the province.

He said before the election, he furnished all details of his assets, which were microscopically scrutinised by the election watchdog through its nominated returning officer.

“Now that the elections are over, the ECP has reopened the issue of the statement of assets and liabilities, which is based on mala fide intent and tainted with political malice, and has no legal backing,” he said.

Mr Gandapur contended that the ECP, by issuing a notice to him on April 28, 2024, showed that it wanted to “continuously hang the sword of Damocles over his head just to pressure and harass” him — an act against its mandate.

Mr Gandapur stated that the said impugned notice had already been challenged in which the proceedings initiated by ECP had been suspended.

However, he stated that ECP had once again issued the present impugned notice on Nov 20, 2024 regarding ‘statements of assets and liabilities’, which was part and parcel of the same matter already pending before the high court.

The petitioner stated in his declaration before ECP, the said land had properly been justified and the documentary proof regarding selling it had already been submitted.

The chief minister said that as the general elections were over and ECP had notified the returned candidates in the official gazette under Section 98 of the Elections Act 2017, ECP had become “functus officio” to exercise its powers under that law, which only dealt with the matters of election.

He added that the ECP’s suo motu cognisance of election matters was illegal, unwarranted, and against the provisions of the Elections Act, 2017.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2025