• Turns down 10 de-seated members’ petition for restoration
• CJ Minallah refuses to entertain arguments on audio leaks

ISLAMABAD: The Islam­abad High Court (IHC) chief justice on Thursday declined to grant a request to restore 10 de-seated Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), making it clear that he will not reconsider his decision as long as the party continues its ‘boycott’ of the lower house.

The de-seated MNAs — Dr Shireen Mazari, Ali Mohammad Khan, Farrukh Habib, Sha­ndana Gulzar, Fazal Moha­m­md, Shaukat Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Ijaz Shah, Jameel Ahmed Khan and Moham­mad Akram — had earlier moved the IHC to nullify the approval of their ‘resignations’ by the Speaker Nat­i­onal Assembly and a subsequent notification issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to formally de-seat them.

The lawmakers, through their counsel, are now arguing that they had never tendered a ‘resignation’, yet Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf ‘unfairly’ treated their ‘letters’ as such.

Barrister Syed Ali Zafar, who is representing the petitioners, attempted to paint the matter as a ‘conspiracy’ by the incumbent government, making reference to recent audio leaks purportedly featuring government functionaries discussing the matter.

However, this line of arg­ument was met by a sharp rebuke from IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, who warned Mr Zafar that if the court was to start relying on such ‘leaks’, it would open a Pandora’s Box as there were several other audio leaks that would also demand consideration.

Mr Zafar then switched to quoting precedent, citing the judgement on the resignation of parliamentarians in the Syed Zafar Ali Shah case. He argued that the Speaker was required to verify the genuineness of all resignations but he did not follow the dictum laid down by the superior judiciary.

According to Mr Zafar, the PTI leaders’ resignations were, in fact, ‘letters’ and had always been ‘subject to the approval of all resignations together, not in a piecemeal manner’.

IHC chief justice observed that since the petition had been filed under Article 199 of the Constitution, which concerns the extraordinary jurisdiction of the high court, the petitioners must establish their bonafides — prove that they had approached the court ‘with clean hands’.

Barrister Zafar then pointed out that the court had restored another de-seated lawmaker, PTI defector Shakoor Shad, in a similar case. However, Justice Minallah responded saying that in his petition, Shad had distanced himself from the PTI’s policy to boycott the National Assembly and told the court that he had continued attending proceedings in the lower house even after the boycott was announced.

Justice Minallah then offered that the petitioners submit an affidavit stating that they will end their boycott and return to parliament, and the court would then consider suspending their de-notification orders.

Mr Zafar argued that the party had announced a boycott of the National Assembly to compel the government to hold early elections.

“[And] you want this court to restore the lawmakers so they can re-join the boycott of the National Assembly,” Justice Minallah observed. “The court will not become party to this since it would result in political de-stability. The already fragile economy of the country cannot afford further destabilisation,” he remarked.

“This court believes in the supremacy of parliament and the Constitution and will never become part of any action that would undermine them,” he added.

IHC chief justice remarked that since the petitioners are under obligation to follow the party’s direction on boycotting National Assembly proceedings, any order for their restoration will neither serve the interests of parliament nor the constituents who they have left unrepresented in the lower house.

“Until or unless the party ends its boycott of the National Assembly, their restoration will not be in parliament’s interest,” he stressed.

Mr Zafar assured the court that the PTI believes in a sovereign parliament and will return; however, he argued that any decision in this regard could only be taken after due diligence.

Mr Zafar then requested the court to suspend the ECP order and adjourn the hearing for five days. He suggested that the party would use the time to make a decision on the matter.

However, Justice Minallah made it clear he would not suspend the order or even issue notices to the respondents. He, however, agreed to the adjournment to give time to the party to make a decision on continuing its boycott or ending it.

The hearing was subsequently adjourned.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2022