Daily Times

The Lahore High Court (LHC) suspended the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) order to accept the resignations of 43 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNAs on Wednesday.

By-elections in 43 constituencies have been halted until the next order of the court. It also served notice on the ECP and other parties and requested a response.

Riaz Fatyana was among the 43 former PTI MNAs who petitioned Justice Shahid Karim.

Riaz Fatyana appeared in court with his lawyer, Barrister Ali Zafar, who argued that the legal requirements for accepting resignations had not been met.

“Tell! Which legal requirement has not been met?” Justice Shahid Karim asked.

At this, Barrister Ali Zafar explained the legal procedure for accepting the resignation.

The National Assembly (NA) speaker, ECP, and the federal government had been made respondents in the petition.

The NA speaker’s notifications of January 22 and the ECP’s notifications of January 25 had been challenged in the petition.

It was stated in the petition that 43 PTI MNAs had written a letter to the NA speaker for the withdrawal of resignations on January 23 last.

“The speaker did not conduct an inquiry under the Constitution before accepting the resignations,” Barrister Ali Zafar argued before the court.

“The MNAs had not appeared before the speaker to have their resignations accepted,” he added.

“The speaker cannot accept resignations without hearing the MNAs,” he stated.

“The court should declare null and void the acceptance of the resignations of the petitioners on behalf of the speaker and the ECP,” he demanded.