The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of a petition seeking action against the National Assembly speaker and directed the petitioner to advance arguments in the light of superior judiciary’s orders.
The SHC division bench was hearing the plea filed by Moulvi Iqbal Haider, a practicing lawyer and Chairman of Awami Himayat Tehreek Pakistan, submitting that he had sent the reference to the speaker of National Assembly to disqualify Mian Muhammad Nawaz Shairf as prime minister for hiding his assets at the time of filing his nomination papers for the National Assembly constituency but the speaker instead of forwarding the reference to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) decided himself that the reference was not maintainable.
He requested the court to declare that the speaker of the assembly is not empowered to decide the question arising through such reference. “The ECP is the authority to decide the disqualification matter of any member, not the speaker. The speaker is bound under the constitution to refer any such reference to the ECP,” Moulvi added.
The court adjourned the hearing of the case while directing the petitioner to argue as per the superior judiciary’s orders on the next hearing.
Meanwhile, the court also adjourned the hearing of a petition that sought disqualification of Mian Nawaz Sharif as the prime minister on the basis that he (Nawaz Sharif) filed a fake affidavit in the nomination papers.
The petitioner submitted that Nawaz Sharif had filed false affidavit and never disclosed that his family members own offshore companies. He added that the prime minister had hidden his assets and business from the Election Commission of Pakistan. The court was requested by the petitioner to disqualify Nawaz Sharif and restrain him from holding the prime minister’s office.
