LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) today restored Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s 72 Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) after suspending a notification issued by the Election Commissioner of Pakistan (ECP) that had de-notified them.
Justice Shahid Karim directed the MNAs to appear before the speaker of the National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to formally withdraw their resignations.
The decision comes as a result of petitions filed by the 72 MNAs, urging the court to nullify the notifications issued by Speaker Pervaiz Ashraf, who accepted their resignations, and the ECP’s notification, which denotified them and declared their seats vacant.
After hearing extensive arguments, Justice Shahid Karim had reserved the decision and subsequently announced the suspension of the de-notification.
Justice Karim has instructed the speaker to reconsider the matter after hearing the petitioners once again, taking into account their arguments and concerns.
During the court proceedings, Barrister Ali Zafar, the counsel for the petitioners, argued that the resignations had been retracted before their acceptance. He questioned how the speaker could accept the resignations under such circumstances, emphasizing that accepting resignations without adhering to the legal framework would undermine the rules and suggest malicious intent on the part of the speaker.
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