Muzaffarabad (Web Desk): The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected petition filed by Sardar Tanveer Ilyas against his disqualification from the office as the region's prime minister by the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) High Court.
However, Ilyas challenged the decision in the AJK Supreme Court via a plea that mentioned him as the "AJK prime minister".
The petition, however, was returned by the court's registrar office, with objections over Ilyas's title.
Later, AJK Chief Justice (CJ) Raja Saeed Akram censured the petitioner's lawyers for mentioning Ilyas as the "current prime minister".
"Why didn't you comply when the registrar had raised objections," he asked.
At this, Ilyas's lawyer requested the court to consider it written "former prime minister".
"How could we read it as 'former'. You are a senior lawyer and this is Supreme Court [of AJK]," the justice remarked.
CJ Raja Saeed Akram observed that the high court's ruling will be maintained till the top court takes action and Ilyas would be considered a former prime minister.
Later, the court directed the lawyers to file new plea, saying that the court will see when it has to take it up. After this, the lawyers left for removing the objections imposed on the plea.
On Tuesday, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) High Court on Tuesday disqualified Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir Sardar Tanveer Ilyas for contempt of court.
After a brief hearing of a contempt notice, the full court bench awarded imprisonment till the rising of the court, consequently disqualifying Sardar Tanveer Iliyas as premier and as a member of the legislative assembly.
Earlier, Sardar Tanveer Iliyas appeared before a full bench of the high court on a contempt notice and surrendered an unconditional apology for his contemptuous speech but the court announced the brief order disqualifying him from the office.
On Monday, the superior courts of AJK had separately served notices Ilyas to explain his position with regard to his “derogatory remarks about the superior judiciary in his speeches at public meetings”.
The high court registrar was directed to issue a notice to the AJK prime minister through his principal secretary to appear in person before the court on Tuesday (today) at 10:30am. and explain his position. The registrar was also directed to fix the matter before full bench.
Sardar Tanveer Iliyas had criticized the stay orders issue by the courts and said the practice was affecting the performance of government.
"The stay orders were temporary order that must be decided within days but they lingered for years," he had stated.
Affiliated with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Sardar Tanveer Ilyas served as AJK's premier for less than a year. He was elected unopposed as the 14th prime minister of the region on April 18, 2022.
After the resignation of Abdul Qayyum Khan Niazi as AJK premier, Ilyas had submitted nomination papers on behalf of PTI which were declared valid by the secretary assembly.
Ilyas was nominated by PTI Chairman Imran Khan as the party’s candidate for prime minister’s office while the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) had jointly fielded Chaudhry Yasin.
The united opposition boycotted the session for the election of the prime minister, leaving no candidate in the race against Ilyas wherein he received 33 votes in his favour.
