PHC stops elected members from taking oath on KP reserved seats
Pakistan
Sends case to chief justice for formation of larger bench
PESHAWAR (Dunya News) - The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday stopped the elected members from taking oath on the reserved seats of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the request of the Sunni Ittehad Council.
Peshawar High Court's Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Shakeel Ahmed conducted hearing of the case against the ECP decision of not allotting reserved seats to the SIC.
"If you don't get these, will these seats remain vacant?" inquired Justice Shakeel Ahmed.
"The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) says the list will be given before the election," he observed.
PTI's lawyer Qazi Anwar said the notification had been issued. "We want those who have been made lawmakers on reserved seats not to take oath," said Anwar.
"You want this court to stop them from taking oath, we will look into it and issue an order," the court remarked.
The court said it would issue an appropriate order after the arguments of Qazi Anwar and reserved the judgement.
Later, while announcing its verdict, the court stopped the newly-elected members from taking oath on the reserved seats for women of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly.
The Peshawar High Court issued a pre-admission notice to the ECP and directed it to submit its response by tomorrow (Thursday). It also issued notice to the attorney general and advocate general for judicial assistance.
The court sent the case to the chief justice for formation of a larger bench. The court issued notices to the ECP and the National Assembly speaker, and adjourned the hearing till tomorrow (Thursday).
The Sunni Ittehad Council had moved the PHC for allocation of reserved seats in the assembly. The SIC had made the ECP a party in the case.
