LAHORE – The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday issued notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and others for March 13 on a petition against non-allocation of reserved seats to Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).
The single bench comprising Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal heard the petition filed by SIC Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza.
During the proceedings, the petitioner’s counsel submitted that the ECP rejected SIC’s plea for allotment of reserved seats and allocated disputed reserved seats to other parliamentary parties, adding that the decision was illegal and unconstitutional. He submitted that the election for president was scheduled to be held on March 9 and the candidates, elected on disputed reserved seats, would also likely cast their votes in it. He pleaded with the court to restrain the candidates, elected on disputed reserved seats, from using any power. He also requested the court to direct the commission to allocate seats to SIC in the National Assembly and the provincial assembly as per its strength in the Punjab. However, the court, after recording initial arguments, issued notices to the respondents for March 13 and sought reply.
Earlier, Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh heard the matter as an objection case and removed two objections put by the registrar office but maintained the objection regarding jurisdiction. The court observed that the objection regarding jurisdiction would be reviewed on the judicial side.
FOUR NEWLY ELECTED
MNA’S TAKE OATH
Four newly elected members of the National Assembly on reserved seats took an oath on Friday. The Speaker of the National Assembly, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, administered the oath to the new members, including James Iqbal, Samina Khalid Ghurki, Natasha Daultana, and Neelam Kumari.
