Ex-SC judge takes oath as caretaker CM of KP

PESHAWAR: Former Supreme Court Justice Dost Muhammad Khan was sworn in as the caretaker chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Wednesday.

Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra administered the oath to the former SC judge at a ceremony at the Governor House. Former KP CM Pervez Khattak and other dignitaries from the province were present on the occasion.

The Election Commission of Pakistan(ECP) on Tuesday nominated Justice Khan as the caretaker CM of KP province.

The committee, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Sardar Muhammad Raza and comprising four ECP members, unanimously selected him from among two nominees each from the government and the opposition, according to Additional Secretary Dr Akhtar Nazir.

After a parliamentary committee’s failure in finalizing a consensus name for the post of the caretaker chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Speaker of the now-dissolved KP Assembly had forwarded four names, two each from the outgoing government and the opposition, to the commission to pick one person for the office of caretaker Chief Minister.

The opposition had given the name of Justice (retd) Dost Mohammad Khan and businessman Manzoor Afridi for the position of caretaker CM. While the government floated the names of former bureaucrats – Himayatullah Khan and Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi.

A committee of the ECP headed by Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Sardar Muhammad Raza decided to nominate Justice Dost Muhammad Khan as the Caretaker Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Justice Dost Muhammad Khan was retired as the judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on March 20, 2018. He remained the Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court from 17 November 2011 to 31 January 2014. He was elevated to the Supreme Court on 1st February 2014.

Justice Dost Muhammad was among the judges who had refused to take oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) 3 November 2007, during the military rule of Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

Earlier, a meeting of the parliamentary committee comprised of the opposition and government members held at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad, failed to agree on the matter.

The meeting was attended by the PTI’s Shah Farman and Mehmmod Khan and opposition’s Malik Noor Saleem Khan and Mehmood Betani.

Under Article 224-A of the Constitution, the Chief Minister and opposition leader have to finalize a name for caretaker chief executive within three days of the dissolution of the provincial assembly and if they do not agree on a name, the matter will be referred to the parliamentary committee of the assembly. If the committee fails to reach a consensus in this regard, the matter shall be forwarded to the ECP for a final decision.