MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Monday disqualified Sardar Ghulam Sadiq, speaker of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, from contesting the July 21 general election on charges of misuse of power and receiving salary from two public offices simultaneously.
A division bench of the AJK High Court consisting of Justice M. Tabassam Aftab Alvi and Justice Azhar Salim Babar announced the verdict in Muzaffarabad on a writ petition filed by Sardar Khan Bahadur Khan, candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for the July 21 election. The petitioner contended in his petition that Sadiq, who belongs to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) which is in power in AJK, was elected as member of the assembly in the last general election. He was appointed adviser to then prime minister of Pakistan and chairman of the Kashmir Council on November 30, 2008 under sub section 8 of the Section 21 of the Interim Constitution – Act 1974 of AJK. The petitioner said that Sadiq held the office till July 2011 and during his tenure he drew two salaries simultaneously. The second charge the petitioned levelled against Sadiq was that he provided a list of 12 of his favorite persons to the Sudhanoti district education officer and ordered him to appointment them teachers at various schools. The speaker did not deny the charge during his appearance before the court.
