LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday refused to issue any order restraining the members of assemblies elected on reserved seats from exercising their right to vote in the presidential election being held on Saturday (today).

The court, however, issued notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and other respondents on a petition of Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) and sought their replies by March 13.

The SIC’s counsel said the members on reserved seats of the Punjab Assembly took oath in a session convened before its scheduled time on Friday.

He pointed out that the Sindh and Peshawar high courts restrained the MPAs on reserved seats from taking oath in the respective assemblies. A law officer, however, said the situation in Punjab was different from other provinces.

The court asked the petitioner’s counsel as if the party approached the ECP against the impugned decision which he replied in negative. Earlier, the court took up the petition of the SIC as an objection case.

The court overruled two objections raised by the registrar office on the petition with a direction to fix its hearing and observed that the third objection about the maintainability of petition would be decided by the court on the judicial side.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024