ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) was approached by 10 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNAs against the acceptance of their resignations by Speaker National Assembly and subsequently denotified by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
A single bench of Chief Justice Athar Minallah will hear their petition Thursday (Oct 6).
The petition has been filed by Ali Muhammad Khan, Fazal Muhammad Khan, Shaukat Ali, Fakhar Zaman Khan, Farrukh Habib, Ijaz Ahmed Shah, Jamil Ahmed Khan, Muhammad Akram, Dr Shireen Mazari, and Shandana Gulzar Khan, whose resignations were accepted by the Speaker and subsequently denotified by the ECP.
The petition filed through Barrister Syed Ali Zafar cited speaker NA, secretary NA, ECP, and the federation through Secretary Cabinet as respondents. Barrister Zafar stated that the 10 petitioners, along with 113 other PTI MNAs, en masse tendered resignations on the party directions and were subject to all the 123 members of the National Assembly belonging to PTI resigning and being de-seated in tandem, jointly and as a whole.
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Barrister Zafar has taken a ground that the Speaker did not conduct any due enquiry nor any verification from the petitioners as required by the Constitution. He further stated that while accepting the resignations, the Speaker did not follow the requirements of Article 64 as laid down by the superior courts.
He added that the Supreme Court has held in various judgments that under Article 64 of the Constitution the Speaker while receiving the resignation has a duty to ascertain personally whether the resignation was signed by the person resigning, whether it was voluntary and whether it was intended to act as a resignation.
He also said unless the said three requirements of the resignation are satisfied and proved, the resignation cannot be given effect as a “resignation” under Article 64 and the Speaker is required to conduct an enquiry and determine whether all three factors are proved while this enquiry has to take place as a matter of Constitutional law in this matter.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022