The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday conducted hearing of the petitions filed by Advocate AK Dogar and Ch Shoaib Saleem against the promulgation of ordinance by President Mamnoon Hussain that lead to the formation of the Judicial Commission to probe the 2013 General Elections.
Representing the petitioners, Advocate A.K Dogar argued that the ordinance in question was issued by the president under coercion as one political party had hijacked the government through protests and rallies, adding that an ordinance promulgated by the president cannot be called an act of the Parliament
He said the issuance of the ordinance violates Article 225 of the Constitution, which starts with negative affirmative and excludes any other way of solving the elections disputes but through elections tribunals.
Petitioner-lawyer Advocate Ch Shoaib Saleem argued that the ordinance was not only violates but also derogates the Constitution. He said the circumstances under which it was promulgated were neither natural nor inevitable, rather were created. He said the issuance of the ordinance was a result of an agreement reached between the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for the constitution of the commission.
The lawyer said availing two remedies simultaneously was against the basic spirit of judicial system and that no law existed through which the findings of the commission could be implemented.
Defending the ordinance, PTI’s counsel Bakhtiar Kasuri said the ordinance was promulgated for the benefit of masses and now everyone could appear before the commission besides the aggrieved parties. He said only candidates could approach the election tribunals.
Justice Ayesha A Malik adjourned hearing till May 22 and asked all the sides to come up with final arguments.
