By Staff Reporter
Islamabad: Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) petition against the phased approval of resignations submitted by its National Assembly members.
PTI had challenged the ‘piecemeal’ resignation acceptance of its lawmakers in the IHC and demanded that all 123 MNAs should be de-notified together and their seats be declared vacant.
Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked that the Speaker after being satisfied has approved 11 resignations of the PTI MNAs. “This court is not authorized to review the level of satisfaction of the Speaker,” Justice Minallah said. “We have to change our thinking and respect the Parliament.”
Chief Justice said IHC has set some parameters in its prior decision.
“Every member who has resigned should individually appear before the Speaker to verify his resignation,” Justice Minallah said. “This court will not issue instructions to the Speaker.”
Justice Minallah also declared acceptance of resignation by then deputy speaker Qasim Suri illegal.
“What the (then) deputy speaker did was against the law and judicial decisions,” he observed. “The court will not interfere in the affairs of the parliament.”
The coalition government in July accepted the resignation of 11 PTI members of the National Assembly. The Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf accepted the resignations of the PTI lawmakers three months after the en-mass resignation on April 11 following the ouster of the former prime minister Imran Khan from the top office after the no-confidence motion moved by the joint opposition in the parliament against him succeeded.
The government accepted the resignations of 11 PTI MNAs including Shireen Mazari, Ali Muhammad Khan, Ijaz Shah, Farrukh Habib, Shandana Gulzar, Fazal Muhammad, Fakhar Zaman, Abdul Shakoor Shad, Jameel Ahmed, and Akram Cheema.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
