Administer oath to Hindu lawmaker: Pak court orders KP Speaker

A Pakistani court today ordered the speaker of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly to administer oath to an imprisoned Hindu lawmaker who is an accused in the murder case of a Sikh legislator in 2016. Member of the Provincial Assembly-elect Baldev Kumar, who is in jail in the murder case of Sikh lawmaker Sardar Soran Singh, moved the Peshawar High Court against the Speaker, treasury and opposition members of the provincial assembly for contempt of court. In his petition, Kumar had prayed that Senate elections which are due on March 3 should be stopped until his swearing in ceremony. Peshawar High Court's two-member bench presided over by Justice Ikramullah Khan and Justice Qalandar Ali Khan ordered Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly to administer the oath to Kumar as a Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA). The court also put on notice KP Assembly's Speaker as to why contempt of court proceedings not be initiated against him for his failure to administer oath to Kumar despite clear orders of the court. The court adjourned the case till March 6. Justice Ikramullah observed that the court has all the powers to suspend results of Senate elections if the KP Assembly does not administer oath to Kumar as an MPA from a minority seat. The Senate election is due in KP and other provinces and federal capital on March 3. On February 27, Kumar was taken to the KP Assembly for taking oath as an MPA on the orders of the High Court, but he had to be escorted out when lawmakers strongly protested against him. On February 8, the Peshawar High Court had directed the KP Assembly Speaker to issue Kumar's production order to administer his oath as an MPA on a minority seat in accordance with the Article 65 of the Constitution. Kumar had filed a separate petition with the High Court seeking permission to attend KP Assembly proceedings. He is on trial by an anti-terrorism court in Peshawar.

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