Lahore:
A bench of three members of the Lahore High Court, led by Chief Justice Aalia Neelum, on Wednesday suspended the electoral schedule issued by the Election Commission in Pakistan (ECP) to NA-175 following the inchamnation of PTIS JAMSED DASTI.
The petitioner had challenged his disqualification before LHC’s Multan bench. Due to the sensitivity of the case, the bench suggested the constitution of a larger bench and referred the case to the court’s most important seat.
Then the petitioner submitted a further plea for early consultation that drawn the court’s attention to the ECP’s advertised at the electoral plan. He argued that the delay of the hearing would constitute to deprive him of his legal law. The petitioner also stated that funds were allocated for development projects that would be wasted if the ECP’s decision was later overturned.
When the procedure began, the petitioner’s lawyer claimed that the ECP does not have the authority to disqualify a candidate without a court’s statement. He maintained that the ECP had violated the procedure to disqualify his client.
Advisor Ishtiaq Chaudhry informed the court that the case came from applications received by the speaker for the National Assembly, who then forwarded a reference to the ECP. He quoted a Supreme Court’s judgment that the ECP cannot disqualify a person without a legal statement and claimed that the procedure was not followed in the case of Dasti.
After the arguments, the bench suspended ECP’s electoral schedule on election and issued a message to the electoral goals to submit its reply.
Later, when he talked to journalists, Dasti said he was punished for standing with PTI cartridge-I-chief Imran Khan. He expressed optimism in the judiciary and hoped that justice would be served.
