PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf lawyer Mohammad Muazzam Butt on Wednesday moved the Peshawar High Court requesting it to declare that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor has violated the oath of his office by not setting the date for election to the provincial assembly within 90 days of the dissolution of the previous one and that the country`s president should appoint an actinggovernor in his place.

In the petition, Mr Butt sought the court`s orders for members of the provincial caretaker government to vacate their offices insisting that if that government functioned beyond that 90 days deadline, it wouldn`t have legal validity and would be without jurisdiction.

He also sought declaration of the court that on failure of the governor in the performance of his functions under the Constitution did not entitle him to exercise the power of appointing election date beyond the prescribed period of 90 days and likewise the ElectionCommission of Pakistan would also not be bound to seek the election date from him.

The petitioner requested the high court to ask the interior ministry to consider theconductof the governor in breach of his constitutional responsibility at the scale of Article 6 of the Constitution, dealing with high treason, for necessary action.

He also said the court should direct the ECP to declare the schedule of the provincial assembly election forthwith and order facilitation by authorities, including police and armed forces.

Mr Butt contended that the provincial governor had breached his constitutional responsibility violating the oath of his office prescribed under 3rd Schedule read with Article 102 of the Constitution as well as the fundamental rights of the residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to be represented through their chosen representatives within 90 days of the dissolution of the provincial assembly on the advice of the chief minister.

He also sought an interim relief requesting the court to suspend the governor`s power of exercising the authority of his office and direct the country`s president to appoint an acting governor in his place to do the related work in line with the Constitution.

The petitioner said that the Supreme Court, in a suo moto case this year, haddeclared that the KP governor had breached his constitutional responsibility by not fixing the date for holding election to the provincial assembly.

He added that more than 90 days had passed after the Jan 18 dissolution of the assembly, so the term of the caretaker government in office had ended and that any action by the caretakers would be a nullity under the law.

Mr Butt contended that the governor was mandated to set an election date within 90 days of the dissolution of the assembly in the manner declared by the Constitution.

He said that after the expiry of that deadline, the governor`s authority to set the polling schedule would be illegal as the Constitution did not contain any provision enabling him to perform such action even after the lapse of the period provided for such elections.

The petitioner contended that as the governor didn`t act in line with the Constitution regarding the discharge of his function required by the Constitution`s articles 105(3) and 224(2) read with 3rd Schedule to it related to the oath of the office and therefore, he had, in essence,abrogated the Constitution and had exposed himself to the guilt of high treason along with all members of the caretaker government or the ECP for abetting or acting in aid to him.