PoK's PM Sardar Tanveer Ilyas disqualified for contempt of court

Muzaffarabad [PoK], April 12 : Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, Prime Minister of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, has been disqualified from being a member of the legislative assembly by the region's High Court for contempt, a move that can be seen as a major setback to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Geo News reported.

The high court's decision came after Ilyas was summoned to the Supreme Court and High Court of the region for using a "threatening tone" in one of his speeches.

Ilyas was declared ineligible by the court from holding any public office and asked by the Chief Election Commissioner Abdul Rasheed Sulehria to hold polls for a new prime minister.

Earlier, PM Ilyas appeared before the high court where he was welcomed by members of the PTI, Geo News reported.

A full bench, led by Justice Sadaqat Hussain Raja, conducted the case hearing. During the hearing, the clips featuring the prime minister were played. Ilyas gave an unconditional apology to the court, saying "I apologise unconditionally if any of my words hurt the judge," read a report published in Geo News.

The PoK premier was sentenced till the rising of the court.

The full bench of the High Court summoned Ilyas on Tuesday in a contempt notice taken on his speech at a public meeting.

A two-member bench issued an order on a newspaper clipping citing the prime minister's speech. The decision was taken in a meeting of the judges where the issue was discussed at a considerable length and all of them noted that the overall conduct of the prime minister was contemptuous, the bench stated.

The high court registrar had been directed to issue a notice to the prime minister through his principal secretary to remain present physically before the court and explain his position. The registrar had also been directed to fix the matter before the full bench, as per Geo News.

A day earlier, Ilyas, had criticised the stay orders issued by the courts and said the practice was affecting the government's performance. The stay orders were a temporary order that must be decided within days but they lingered for years, he added, Geo News reported.

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