MLA Shah Salim Khan rubbishes news of ‘being disqualified by court’

Gilgit: Elected leader of Hunza District, Shah Salim Khan has said that the reports about him being disqualified from the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly are ‘false’, and the ‘propaganda’ is tantamount to ‘contempt of court’.

Salim made the statement on his Facebook page after reports of him being disqualified by the Supreme Appellate Court started circulating on the social media.

According to reporters based in Gilgit, the Supreme Appellate Court has accepted a petition for hearing, in which the petitioner, National Bank of Pakistan, has prayed to the court to disqualify Shah Salim Khan, who is son of the Governor of Gilgit-Baltistan, for being a ‘bank defaulter’.

Shah Salim Khan had reportedly taken loans while he was part of the Sost Dry Port as its Director, but he has failed to return the loan to the National Bank of Pakistan.

Prince Salim Khan, who was a director of the Sost Port was allowed to contest election by the GB Chief Court. However, the National Bank of Pakistan had filed a petition against the decision of allowing Salim to contest election, saying he was a defaulter of the bank, and under the law a defaulter cannot take part is election.

The petition has been accepted for hearing exactly one year after Salim Khan won the election and became a part of the GBLA, filling a seat that fell vacant after his father, Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan, became the region’s Governor.

Recently, there were reports in the regional media about conflicts between the GB Chief Minister and Prince Salim Khan, who openly criticized the Chief Minister, accusing him of not taking interest in Hunza’s development, and keeping him at the sidelines. He had also accused the Chief Minister of conspiring against him, to stop him from taking part in the elections held in September 2016.