LAHORE: The Lahore High Court suspended on Wednesday the operation of Election Commission’s notification barring parliamentarians from taking part in the campaign for by-elections in NA-122 (Lahore) and NA-154 (Lodhran).

Justice Ayesha A. Malik issued the interim order on a petition filed by Shoaib Siddiqui, a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf candidate for PP-147, which falls under NA-122.

Advocate Hamid Khan, appearing on behalf of the petitioner, argued that the impugned ban was in violation of the fundamental rights. He said Imran Khan, the PTI Chairman, was also a member of the National Assembly and by virtue of the impugned ban/code could not visit the constituency where by-elections were being held.

Also read: LHC issues notice to ECP on PTI plea

The counsel said ECP’s code of conduct muffled the electioneering plans of the party by curbing its political activism which was a core value of any parliamentary democracy.

While suspending the notification, the judge directed the ECP counsel to file a detailed reply after Eid holidays.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2015

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