The Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed on Wednesday a petition challenging the Senate victory of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

In the Senate elections held on March 3, Gilani defeated Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and bagged a general seat from Islamabad. Following his victory, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan (SAPM) Ali Nawaz Awan, filed a petition in the IHC, requesting the court to declare Gillani’s win illegal and unconstitutional.

During the hearing today, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah dismissed the petition and said that Awan since the case was pending in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), he must approach the commission, Samaa reported.

The court has faith in Parliament and has always respected parliamentarians, the IHC chief justice remarked. "It is not appropriate to bring political issues to the court unnecessarily," the court said.

The high court has also dismissed Awan’s request on dismissing Ali Haider Gillani as a Punjab Assembly member.

On Tuesday, the ECP rejected a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf seeking to stop the issuance of notification of Senator-elect Gilani’s victory. The commission asked the PTI to file an amended petition and make the lawmakers, who it alleged had been bribed, a party.