[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]LAHORE: On Wednesday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) stopped the election commission of Pakistan (ECP) from holding by-elections on the 43 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf legislators whose denotification had been suspended after they objected to the acceptance of their resignations.
The National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was being questioned by Justice Shahid Karim on the PTI MNAs’ argument that it was “illegal” for him to accept their resignations because they had previously withdrew their requests prior to the notification being sent.
It should be recalled that the PTI filed mass resignations in protest after Imran Khan was forced out of his position as prime minister by a vote of no confidence, which were accepted by the then deputy speaker Qasim Suri.
Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, the speaker in office, had expressed reservations about the resignations, but he later decided to reverse the earlier decision and started the process of accepting them gradually. He insisted that this would only be done after the concerned MNAs confirmed their resignations in person.
The 43 MNAs contend in their appeal that they never validated their resignations to the Speaker and that they just filed them in accordance with party policy to achieve “political aims.” Additionally, the legislators had made an effort to inform the speaker and the ECP that they had rescinded their resignations.
Despite this, the speaker accepted their resignations, and the ECP later denotified the PTI MNAs, rendering the seats of the MNAs empty. Although the courts have so far refrained from getting involved because they believe the situation falls beyond of their purview, the LHC overruled the registrar’s office’s objections to PTI’s argument in this particular case.
The petitioner’s attorney, barrister Ali Zafar, contended throughout the proceedings that the speaker’s choice to accept the retracted resignations shows malice on his behalf. Justice Karim suspended the notices sent by the speaker and the ECP after hearing the arguments, and he also requested responses on the subject from the relevant parties.
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