Peshawar:
Peshawar High Court (PHC) issued a residence order on Tuesday and stopped the appointment of new opposition leaders in the National Assembly and Senate after disqualification of PTI’s Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz.
The court issued messages to the National Assembly’s Speeches, Senate Chairman and other relevant officials who instructed them to submit answers by August 15.
On August 5, the Election Commission in Pakistan (ECP) had disqualified Ayub and Faraz, along with other opposition -mna’s and MPAs in their conviction in three cases related to the 9 May 2023 riots.
Subsequently, on August 8, both managers were removed from their positions via messages issued by the Na and Senate Secretariat.
A bench with two members consisting of Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Dr. Khurshid Iqbal heard petitions filed by both leaders against their de-notification of the Election Commission in Pakistan (ECP).
Read: ECP disqualifies three PTI legislators after ATC -judgment in May 9 Case
During the hearing, Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, who represented the petitioners, argued that the ECP had disqualified the two leaders without receiving a referral from the NA speaker or the Senate President and denoting it to a constitutional overreaction.
“The ECP acted without authority until a reference is sent by the speaker, it has no power to disqualify a member,” he said.
He maintained that opposition management is a constitutional position and, according to assembly rules, cannot be removed through unilateral action of ECP.
Gohar referred to a former Supreme Court’s decision to claim that when a candidate becomes a elected member, ECP’s jurisdiction ends.
In a speech with media out of court, Barrister Gohar said the current wave of disqualifications and punishments would not solve political issues.
“Everyone may have made mistakes, but the solution lies in dialogue, not disqualification,” he said. “If the country’s largest party is sidelined, the serious risks of democracy pose.”
Gohar also highlighted what he called discriminatory treatment of PTI, where he said the ECP accepted the intra-party elections of other parties, but rejected PTIs, despite being implemented in a more transparent way.
He also said that, after winning 180 seats in the election on February 8, PTI had now been reduced to 76 seats in the assembly and claimed political victim.
The case will be taken up again on August 15th.
ATC phrases
On July 31, an anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad sentenced more than 100 PTI leaders and workers to prison conditions of up to 10 years in connection with the riots on May 9.
Among the given strict prison were senior position figures, including Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, Zartaj Yellow and Sunni Intehad Council Chief Hamid Raza.
After Ismael Khan, Immael Khan was sentenced to life, and an order to perish his entire property was adopted.
