PML-N Senator Pervez Rasheed and former Additional Secretary Punjab Chief Minister Secretariat Naseem Sadiq have denied forcing former PML-N MPA Shumaila Rana to resign from her assembly membership. unjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had already denied that no pressure was put on her or her family from his office to tender the resignation.
The court adjourned the proceedings to October 12 and asked the petitioner to submit her rejoined. Earlier law officer informed the court that replies from PML-N senior leader Sardar Zulfiqar Khan Khosa, its General Secretary Raja Ashfaq Sarwar, and MNA Khawaja Saad Rafiq have not been submitted as yet.
Rana resigned from her assembly membership in July 2009 owing to party pressure after a case of credit card theft and misuse was registered against her. Later, she was acquitted of the charges and filed the petition for the restoration of her membership and alleged that she had resigned under coercion.
Shumaila Rana through her counsel Azhar Hameed submitted that after the registration of theft case a committee was formed by PML-N comprising Senator Pervez Rashid, MNA Pervez Malik, Muhammad Ajmal, Secretary to Chief Minister and Naseem Sadiq, Additional Secretary Law.
She alleged that her party leaders harassed her for resigning from the seat of MPA and they also sent armed person to her house to pressurise her. Subsequently, she had to resign from the assembly, petitioner added. She further said the credit card theft case against her was concocted and baseless.
She said threats were extended not only to her but also her family members during that period from her own party. She said some of her party members put so much pressure on her that she was compelled to draft her resignation and one of the PML-N leaders grabbed the resignation from her and submitted before the speaker of the Punjab Assembly on July 25, 2090.
She said on March 01, 2010 she was acquitted from the charges by the court of law. The speaker however accepted her resignation, which she never gave him. She said the speaker committed illegality by accepting her resignation, as he did not adopt legal procedure while accepting her resignation. She said according to Rule 35 of Procedure of Provincial Assembly Punjab 1997, the speaker should have conducted an inquiry before accepting her resignation, which he did not conduct. She therefore prayed to the court to declare as illegal and without lawful authority the acceptance of her resignation. She said the notification issued by the Punjab Election Commission to de-notify her as MPA also be declared as illegal.