LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah Wednesday disposed of a petition seeking directives to restrain ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif from heading any office or meeting of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). During the hearing of a petition moved by Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Secretary General Khurram Nawaz Gandapur, the legal director of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) informed the court that the commission had already taken cognisance of the matter. He said that the commission had issued directives to the PML-N chairman to make arrangements for election the new president of the party He also said that the commission would hear point of view of the PAT and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on August 21. In light of the ECP reply, the chief justice disposed of the petition. Earlier, counsel for petitioner Ishtiaq Chaudhry asserted that after the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif by the apex court, he could not head any political party under the Political Parties Order 2002. He submitted that as the apex court rendered Nawaz Sharif disqualified, he could not even become a member of any political party. He said that Nawaz Sharif after his disqualification had presided over a meeting of PML-N parliamentary committee on July 29 in Islamabad, which was in violation of the election laws. He requested the court to order the ECP to restrain Nawaz Sharif from chairing or heading meetings of PML-N in future. Published in Daily Times, August 17th 2017.