The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has suspended the acceptance notification of resignations of three Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers Asad Umar, Ali Nawaz Awan, and Raja Khurram Nawaz and has barred the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from conducting by-elections on their seats.
IHC Chief Justice Amir Farooq heard the petition against the ECP’s decision to de-notify three PTI lawmakers.
Barrister Ali Zafar and Barrister Ali Gohar appeared in court on behalf of Asad Umar, Raja Khurram Shahzad, and Ali Nawaz Awan.
During the hearing, the chief justice said that earlier you were saying that the resignation was not being accepted, and now you are saying that it was wrongly accepted.
The court inquired whether you had only challenged the notification. Barrister Ali Zafar said, "My clients want to go back to the assembly." He added that two petitions related to the members of the National Assembly are also pending in the Lahore High Court (LHC).
Later, the Islamabad High Court suspended the notification of the speaker of the National Assembly. The IHC also suspended the notification of the by-elections scheduled to be conducted in Islamabad, issued notices to the parties, and sought their responses.
The resignations of the PTI lawmakers were approved in four phases since July 2022: 11 in the first phase; 35 each in the second and third phases; and 43 in the fourth one.
The lawmakers had resigned from the National Assembly in protest against the ouster of Imran Khan as prime minister through a vote of confidence in April 2022.
On Tuesday, the National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf told the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders that they could not return to the lower house as their resignations had been accepted. A PTI delegation—led by Amir Dogar and comprising Kanwal Shauzab, Sajida Begum, Aamer Mehmood Kiani, Amjad Niazi, and others—met the NA speaker at his office in Islamabad. In a statement, the NA Secretariat mentioned that the PTI leaders spoke to the speaker about their resignations and demanded Ashraf revoke his decision to accept them. But undeterred, the speaker said that he had accepted the resignations in line with the rules and regulations, the Constitution, and the law of the land.
IHC Chief Justice Amir Farooq heard the petition against the ECP’s decision to de-notify three PTI lawmakers.
Barrister Ali Zafar and Barrister Ali Gohar appeared in court on behalf of Asad Umar, Raja Khurram Shahzad, and Ali Nawaz Awan.
During the hearing, the chief justice said that earlier you were saying that the resignation was not being accepted, and now you are saying that it was wrongly accepted.
The court inquired whether you had only challenged the notification. Barrister Ali Zafar said, "My clients want to go back to the assembly." He added that two petitions related to the members of the National Assembly are also pending in the Lahore High Court (LHC).
Later, the Islamabad High Court suspended the notification of the speaker of the National Assembly. The IHC also suspended the notification of the by-elections scheduled to be conducted in Islamabad, issued notices to the parties, and sought their responses.
The resignations of the PTI lawmakers were approved in four phases since July 2022: 11 in the first phase; 35 each in the second and third phases; and 43 in the fourth one.
The lawmakers had resigned from the National Assembly in protest against the ouster of Imran Khan as prime minister through a vote of confidence in April 2022.
On Tuesday, the National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf told the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders that they could not return to the lower house as their resignations had been accepted. A PTI delegation—led by Amir Dogar and comprising Kanwal Shauzab, Sajida Begum, Aamer Mehmood Kiani, Amjad Niazi, and others—met the NA speaker at his office in Islamabad. In a statement, the NA Secretariat mentioned that the PTI leaders spoke to the speaker about their resignations and demanded Ashraf revoke his decision to accept them. But undeterred, the speaker said that he had accepted the resignations in line with the rules and regulations, the Constitution, and the law of the land.