LAHORE , May 19, 2023: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday annulled the notification of acceptance of resignations of 72 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNAs.
Justice Shahid Karim announced the verdict on the plea filed by former PTI MNA Raiz Fatyana against the notifications issued by National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The court also ordered all the PTI MNAs to appear before Mr Ashraf to withdraw their resignations.
The PTI MNAs include Fawad Chaudhry, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Qaisar, Shafqat Mehmood, Riaz Fatyana, and others.
Earlier, Mr Ashraf said, “After receiving the LHC’s verdict, it would be thoroughly read and then the decision regarding the entry of the members would be taken” after he had barred the PTI lawmakers from entring the assembly. The PTI MNAs, in response, staged a sit-in outside the speaker’s house as they wanted to visit him to withdraw their resignations.
On Jan 24, Mr Asharf accepted resignations of 43 more PTI lawmakers including the petitioner Riaz Fatyana, seven days after he had accepted the resignations by 34 PTI lawmakers including Hammad Azhar, Fawad Chaudhry, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Qaisar, Murad Saeed, Shafqat Mehmood, Sheharyar Afridi, Zartaj Gul, Alamgir Khan, and others followed by the approval of another 35 resignations, thus taking the tally to 112.
Following the speaker’s decision, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) denotified 43 MNAs. However, the LHC suspended the ECP’s order.
It prompted Mr Fatyana to approach the LHC to declare the notification null and void, to which court responded by seeking replies from Mr Ashraf and other respondents till March 7.