PTI moves SC against IHC’s verdict in MNAs’ resignations case

Two days after registrar of the Supreme Court (SC) returned Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) petition against the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) verdict in the case of phased acceptance of the resignations given by its 123 members of the National Assembly (MNAs) with objections, the party on Thursday again  challenged the high court’s decision in the apex court, reported 24NewsHD TV channel. 

Making NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and others respondents in the case, the party argued that the IHC’s verdict was contrary to the facts, and that acceptance of the resignations by the NA speaker in phases was unconstitutional. 

It was stated in the petition that the PTI lawmakers had resigned from their seats en masse following the passage of no-trust motion against their government on April 10, 2022 in order to seek fresh public mandate. 

“And that former NA deputy speaker Qasim Suri had accepted these resignations on the floor of the House before himself calling it a day,” read the petition. 

Therefore, the party prayed to the court to declare the IHC’s verdict in the case null and void. 

Nine days back on September 6, 2022, the IHC, while rejecting the PTI’s petition against phased acceptance of the resignations given by its MNAs by the speaker, had said that it was purely parliament’s internal matter and the court could not interfere in it. 

IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Justice Athar Minallah, in his remarks, had said that the former deputy speaker Qasim Suri had accepted these resignations by going against this court’s verdict.  

The point to be noted, he added, was that the NA speaker had accepted the resignations of 11 PTI MNAs after he felt satisfied. “Your MNAs could have gone to the speaker’s chamber to convey their concerns to him,” he remarked while addressing PTI’s lawyer Faisal Chaudhry.  

Reporter: Amanat Gishkori