Daily Times

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday served notices on the Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, secretary of the Senate, the federal government and others on an intra-court appeal filed by former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani against the court verdict in the Senate chairman election case.

Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri heard the case.

Gilani, who is also the current opposition leader in the Senate, had sought annulment of the single bench judgement in the intra-court appeal. He requested the court to quash the presiding officer’s decision to reject seven votes, demanding immediate suspension of the presiding officer’s decision regarding the Senate election.

The intra-court appeal was filed by Gilani through his lawyers Farooq H Naik, Javed Iqbal Venus, and Barrister Umar Sheikh.

Naik said that the single bench rejected his client’s application. The Senate chairman elections are not under the Election Act, but under the Constitution of Pakistan, Naik said.

“How will you avoid Article 69?” Justice Farooq questioned Naik.

“I want to argue over Article 10 before Article 69,” Naik said. He said his client didn’t challenge the assembly’s proceedings but the election of the Senate chairman. “We didn’t challenge the assembly’s proceedings but the election of the Senate chairman,” Naek further said.

“When the rejection of seven votes [was] questioned, the presiding officer said, take the matter to the court,” Naik said, adding that he was Gilani’s polling agent in the Senate chairman election.

“A presiding officer could not vote in the election but here he opted to vote,” Farooq Naek said.

“When rejection of seven votes was questioned, the presiding officer told us to take the matter to the court,” Gilani’s counsel said. “I was the polling agent of Yousaf Raza Gilani in the Senate chairman election,” Naek told the bench.

After hearing the arguments, the court adjourned the hearing of the case until April 27.

Earlier, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah had rejected Gilani’s plea, challenging Sadiq Sanjrani’s victory as the Senate chairman.

On March 12, the PTI government’s candidate for the Senate chairman election, Sanjrani, had defeated Gilani of the opposition coalition of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), marking a significant victory for the ruling party.

Sanjrani had received 48 votes, while Gilani bagged 42. Eight of the 98 votes in total were rejected, including one that had a stamp on both names.