The Lahore High Court (LHC) has overturned a previous decision to restore 72 PTI lawmakers, whose resignations were accepted by the National Assembly speaker and revoked by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The Contention of the National Assembly Secretary
A two-judge panel, composed of Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan and Justice Shakil Ahmad, ruled on an intra-court appeal submitted by the National Assembly’s secretary, Tahir Hussain. They reversed the decision made by Justice Shahid Karim in May, which suspended the ECP’s de-notification of the 72 PTI MNAs and instructed them to personally present themselves to the National Assembly speaker to revoke their resignations.
The two-judge panel noted that the intra-court appeal presented significant issues. They requested that the appellant’s counsel provide copies of similar petitions before the Supreme Court and the Islamabad High Court. Also, they asked for a response from the respondents by June 21.
In his appeal, put forward by Barrister Lamia Niazi, the National Assembly secretary contended that the single bench’s decision was to be invalidated as it was illegal, arbitrary and without jurisdiction. He maintained that the single judge resolved the factual controversies without addressing the lawmakers’ preliminary objections regarding the maintainability of their petitions.
The Expectation of the Outcome
Hussain further argued that the single judge’s ruling was flawed due to misunderstanding and misinterpretation of facts and the law on the subject. He also complained that the single judge did not give a fair hearing, alleging that the proper legal procedures were not followed in the judgment.
The National Assembly secretary argued that once the speaker of the National Assembly confirmed the lawmakers’ resignations as voluntary and genuine, then forwarded them to the ECP, no court could intervene unless the ECP refused to de-notify those lawmakers for valid reasons.
He stated that the single judge’s conclusion that the PTI lawmakers’ resignations could be withdrawn lacked a legal basis. He also expressed concern that the judge seemed predisposed during proceedings and appeared to predict the case’s outcome, raising serious doubts about the fairness of the judgment.
It is expected that a division bench will consider the appeal next week.
