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WEEKLY
SECTIONS |
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| Arbab Rahim’s disqualification |
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SHC calls PA speaker’s, EC’s comments
Saturday, October 24, 2009
By Jamal Khurshid
Karachi
The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued notices to Speaker Sindh Assembly and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on a petition seeking disqualification of former chief minister Sindh Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim as legislator for his continuous absence from the provincial assembly.
Engineer Wali Mohammad Rahimo, a Pakistan People’s Party representative who lost the 2008 election against Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim from PS-60 Tharparkar, submitted that Arbab Rahim was elected from PS-60 as Member Sindh Assembly but he continuously remained absent from the sittings of the provincial assembly for more than 40 consecutive days and as a consequence his seat stands vacated under the Constitution and parliamentary laws.
Petitioner’s counsel Zamir Ghumro submitted that under Article 64(2) of the Constitution, the house may declare the seat of the member vacant if, without leave of the house, he remains absent for 40 consecutive days of its sittings.
He submitted that the former chief minister remained absent wilfully for more than 40 consecutive days and his seat has become vacant by the operation of law and Constitution, which should have been declared vacant but due to the inaction of the Speaker Sindh Assembly, the people of Tharparkar have been deprived of their representation and political rights.
The petitioner also prayed the court to direct the ECP to hold bye-elections on the vacant seat of PS-60, Tharparkar-1 at the earliest in order to give the right of representation to the people of Thar.
SHC’s division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Mushir Alam, after conducting preliminary hearing of the petition, issued notices to the Advocate General, ECP, Speaker Sindh Assembly and others for November 12 and called for their comments.
Petition for Musharraf’s trial: The SHC asked a petitioner to file an application regarding service of notice to former president Pervez Musharraf through publication.
The court was hearing the petition seeking action against General (retd) Pervez Musharraf, former attorney general Malik Abdul Qayyum and Sharifuddin Pirzada for committing conspiracy to subvert the Constitution.
Petitioner Maulvi Iqbal Haider submitted that Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and other judges of superior courts were restored to their original position on November 3, 2007 through a notification issued on March 17, 2009, which clearly shows that proclamation of emergency and Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) promulgated by the then president Pervez Musharraf had no legal effect and all those who supported the former president should be liable to be proceeded against for committing high treason and punished accordingly.
As the matter was taken up, the petitioner submitted that Supreme Court has also declared the November 3 PCO as illegal and unconstitutional and requested the court to allow him to file an application regarding service of notice to former Musharraf through publication, as prior notices were not served on him.
Malik Qayum’s counsel Rizwan Siddiqui undertook to file counter affidavit on the next date of hearing. The court directed the applicant to file an application to effect service on Musharraf and adjourned the hearing.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
